On Thursday, September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene unleashed devastating Category 4 fury upon the southeastern United States. Compounded by nearly three months' worth of precipitation that had fallen in the prior three days, the hurricane caused devastation across much of western North Carolina, claiming many lives, causing severe flooding and destroying homes and livelihoods. Helene has become the deadliest mainland hurricane since Katrina.

How can we respond?

We can pray.

• Pray for the people who have been affected, whose lives have been turned upside down because the hurricane.
• Pray for the first responders, that they would have energy, strength and care as they rescue and meet the needs of the many who are hurting and afraid.
• Pray for governmental authorities, that they would work well together and be quick to respond in practical ways.
• And pray for God’s spirit work among his people so they would be generous, kind, helpful and good neighbors amid the devastation.

We can give. Should you like to donate funds, two Christian ministries are providing hurricane Helene disaster relief. Each is careful about the stewardship and accountability of their funds, and are members of ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability).

• The Salvation Army USA Southern Territory covers the region most affected by Hurricane Helene. They have activated their Emergency Disaster Services network to deliver essential aid to affected communities. Volunteers and professionals are on the ground, offering mass feeding, shelter, clean-up support, personal hygiene kits and emotional and spiritual care to survivors and first responders.
  
  Donate to Salvation Army
  
  To follow their relief work, visit their Facebook page: facebook.com/SalArmySouth

• Water Mission is a Christian engineering nonprofit that is building safe water treatment systems to the remote communities in western NC. Along with providing safe water, their teams have been distributing generators to residents who are expected to be without power for more than a month.
  
  Donate to Water Mission
  
  To follow their disaster response, visit their Facebook page: facebook.com/WaterMissions