One volunteer's report
from TXM's response to Hurricane Helene
By Shirley Horsley
I stopped to look across the horizon of the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern Tennessee as I thought about why I was here. This was approximately 1,000 miles from home. My family was back in Texas, and I was not on vacation.
How did I arrive in this situation? It was a Texans on Missions deployment, of course, and I was not alone. Texas had sent a mass feeding unit, a mud-out team, management team and shower/laundry volunteers to bring help, hope and healing to the people of this part of Tennessee.
TXM was stationed in Johnson City, about 30 miles from damage caused by Hurricane Helene at the end of September. The storm caused widespread destruction and fatalities across the southeastern United States. It was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since 2017 and the deadliest to strike the U.S. mainland since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. This was a category 4 and took about 252 lives. As of today, 93 people are still missing.
I arrived Oct. 9 after a day and a half of travel from TXM’s Dixon Building in Dallas. I was part of a caravan of 16 folks from all over Texas. Tammey Powell came with me to serve from our church, Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler. This was her first deployment, but you wouldn’t know it. She was such a help and support.
Larry Jackson, from Plano, helped at our location, bringing his great attitude to serve with us. Another site was set up in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and two more of our group, Jim and Sharon Inglis, were there doing a fabulous job supporting the other teams.
The mass feeding unit in Johnson City served meals twice a day, feeding roughly 3,600 for the first four days and 1,700 for the last three days of the week I was there. The mud-out crews took work orders and cleaned out mud and other debris. They removed sheetrock and sprayed for mold. They listened and talked with homeowners who really needed to talk.
At the shower and laundry site at Mountain View Baptist Church in Johnson City, we also listened to people who needed to tell what this hurricane did to change their lives. Most lived nearby but had family that lost homes. Some had lost loved ones.
During the morning we washed towels and clothes. When the teams returned, they took showers and dropped off more dirty clothes. These guys had stories to tell.
Tammey and I did not see areas of devastation as did others, but we saw people who had been through this horrible event. After a couple of days of shower/laundry work, we had the opportunity to go to Elizabethton to one of its distribution centers to pick up supplies for a lady who was trapped on a mountain. She had timbers blocking the road leading down from her house and could not get to town, and feared running out of food before she could get out.
Also, a tree had fallen on her house that needed to be removed. That is where TXM came in — to remove the tree and take supplies. We dropped off food, paper products, dog food and a generator. We picked up fuel from the National Guard across the street from this center, as well as the generator.
A sad fact that occurs during disasters such as this is from the criminal element. The distribution center had to be guarded against theft, and expensive items were kept elsewhere.
Mental health issues are also part of disasters. One man our team helped later took his life, but another man was convinced to go to rehab for his alcoholism.
We heard stories of people saving others in the floods only to lose their own lives. One couple had been homeless then found a home before the hurricane hit. Now they are homeless again.
These are the hard memories we take home.
We do have uplifting memories of local residents like Melissa, who gave up her vacation week to help our command center with phone calls from people requesting help. She was a calm, quiet individual who had a heart of gold. Her demeanor was needed at this time. She was quite the blessing to many people.
The pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Elizabethton delivered water and goods up a mountain to folks in need. The people there told him others up the road needed it more. The pastor had to convince them to take the water and goods, promising that he had more at the church for others.
One lady told us her family had 12 acres of farmland. They lost some of it to flood waters. Now they have a creek running through it, as well as a rocky area alongside. They had a church fellowship hall nearby that was pushed by the raging water onto their land and set down. When they went inside only two refrigerators were toppled. Everything else had not moved. The paper plates and bowls were still where they were left. The folding chairs were still propped against the wall as they had been set. Incredible!
Many people have had their lives changed dramatically this year. We are grateful for the salvation of two people who will forever see a huge difference in their lives.
You may wonder what difference you make as one person going to help, but when you arrive at a TXM deployment site there are so many volunteers that your efforts are multiplied. And many times survivors come up to say how much they appreciate the help.
I saw friends I had served with at other deployments. I made new friends that blessed me as I watched them work hard and tirelessly. It reminded me of the verse in Isaiah 40 that says, “... we run and do not grow weary, walk and do not faint.”
Never underestimate the effort of your contribution. God will multiply it tenfold and more.
