Arkansas Baptists help with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts

When John Pearce was called to help the victims of Hurricane Helene in Valdosta, Georgia, on the morning of September 28, the JB Hunt software engineer didn’t hesitate to go.

As a member of Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief, Rogers Southern Baptist has been accepting these types of assignments since Hurricane Rita made landfall in Texas in 2005.

His employer lets him take vacation time at short notice.

“I got a call at 10 a.m. on a Saturday. We were on our way by 11 a.m.,” he said.

Given the storm’s intensity—it made landfall in Florida with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour—there was no doubt it would leave behind devastation: storm surges close to the coast, torrential rains and uprooted trees further inland.