• Shelley Henderson

Salvation Army Serving in the Carolinas after Hurricane Florence

An Army of Salvation Army officers, employees, and volunteers is working to feed, hydrate, and give hope to people impacted by Hurricane Florence

The Salvation Army is on the ground, serving people in communities impacted by Hurricane Florence. Today 51 mobile feeding units with crews of food service workers and emotional and spiritual care specialists are on the ground, working to feed, hydrate, and give hope to people impacted by Hurricane Florence.  The impacts from Florence continue to unfold across the Carolinas as extensive river flooding continues to unfold in areas already heavily impacted by Hurricane Florence. Some rivers are expected to remain in major flood stage well into next week.

On the ground reports from some of the Salvation Army service areas:

Horry County, SC
The community and Incident Command team are prepping for the disaster after the disaster in the 12,000 sq miles of Horry County. The Little PeeDee River is expected to crest over the next week with 2.5 ft. above record levels with the Waccamaw River following shortly. Anticipate most roads will be cut off and looking at contingency plans of possibly splitting the IC into two groups; north and south. It is anticipated roads in and out of Conway will be cut off due to rising waters.

A wonderful connection with The Salvation Army and the Hispanic community of Horry Co has been established. We are now able to serve a community that may not have been served otherwise. Hundreds of meals have been served to those in the Hispanic community who have been displaced by flooding.

Canteens continue to serve first responders at Fire Departments and those affected by flooding waters congregating at small community centers. People are aware of the flood waters that are coming, but many are not able to move and are planning to ride out the rising waters.

Currently, there are pockets of service areas, but power is on and businesses are open in most places. In affected communities, many residents are helping each other.

Williamsburg and Georgetown Counties, SC
Georgetown, SC is cut off from both directions because of extensive flooding. Salvation Army teams dropped supplies into Georgetown yesterday and mobile feeding units are in place to serve the community after the roads clear.

Washington, NC
The Washington Salvation Army expects to continue to provide hot meals, cold drinks, snacks, and much-needed spiritual and emotional through Saturday dinner in two locations, the Chocowinity Fire Department and Aurora, NC. In addition, the catering truck is fully stocked with cold beverages and snacks and roams neighborhoods where clean-up crews are working. The team is currently looking to secure cleaning kits for distribution to the communities.

Carteret County, NC
Canteens and crews from Winston-Salem, Raleigh and Newnan, Ga., continue to serve meals and water to communities throughout Carteret County. The focus has turned primarily to the “Down East” communities of Harkers Island, Davis, Atlantic, North River and South River, and others. These areas expect to be without power for a month, if not longer. The shelter at Beaufort Elementary School will close tomorrow morning, while the Newport Middle School shelter continues to serve about 300 displaced individuals. The Salvation Army continues to provide meals and spiritual and emotional care to those residing there on a daily basis.

Wilmington, NC
The power in Wilmington proper is coming on quickly so the majority of people have power. Also several eateries have reopened and are now accessible to the population. Now in the outer counties there is still no power and a lot of standing water. The majority of the people that we are feeding are still w/o power.

Duplin, Lenoir, and Greene Counties, NC
The rivers are still rising and are expected to crest late tonight or early tomorrow morning. We have one mobile feeding unit permanently at one location to feed first responders. We dropped supplies to them yesterday because we knew the roads will be flooded soon. The roads were closing behind us as we left. We are so glad to keep the first responders fed and hydrated so they can help people in the community. The NC Baptist Men are cooking the food for us.  Duplin County is underwater and there are limited routes open. Our board chair was able to get into our location in Duplin County and pack bags of groceries for families – the sheriff and police departments are delivering them to families. Hopefully this food will get households through until the roads are accessible again.

Sampson and Wayne Counties, NC
Operations remain fluid.   Today we will have one crew cooking for the other two who will be roaming.  We will be distributing cases of water and bread to people who come through the Corps today.

The Salvation Army is serving from the following Salvation Army locations:
· Salvation Army of Horry County, SC serving Horry County
 · Salvation Army of Georgetown, SC serving Georgetown and Williamsburg counties
· Salvation Army of Florence, SC serving Florence, Marion, Dillon, Darlington, and Chesterfield counties
· Salvation Army of Wilmington, NC serving New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, Pender counties
· Salvation Army of Jacksonville, NC serving Onslow, Jones counties
· Salvation Army of Morehead City, NC serving Carteret County
· Salvation Army of New Bern, NC serving Pamlico, Craven counties
· Salvation Army of Kinston, NC serving Lenoir, Greene, Duplin counties
· Salvation Army of Washington,NC serving Bertie, Martin, Washington, Tyrrel, Hyde, Beaufort counties
· Salvation Army of Greenville, NC serving Pitt County
· Salvation Army of Goldsboro, NC serving Wayne, Sampson counties
· Salvation Army of Fayetteville, NC serving Cumberland, Hoke, Moore, Scotland, Robeson counties

**Visit disaster.salvationarmyusa.org for a list of public feeding locations. Locations will be updated daily by 10:30 a.m. daily.**

About The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services

• We have served survivors of every major national disaster since 1900.
• In times of disaster, we serve the whole person – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
• After immediate needs are met, The Salvation Army will remain and continue to partner with impacted communities to rebuild. Rebuilding communities takes time and partnership, and we will be there as long as it takes.
• The Salvation Army is there before, during, and after the storm.