Latter-day Saint volunteers rally to help Florida hurricane victims
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- Jewell Baggett stands beside a Christmas decoration she recovered from the wreckage of her mother’s home, as she searches for anything salvageable from the trailer home her grandfather had acquired in 1973 and built multiple additions on to over the decades, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
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- This aerial photo shows homes surrounded by floodwaters in Steinhatchee, Fla., on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, left behind by Hurricane Idalia.
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- In this photo taken with a drone, destroyed homes are seen in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia.
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- Pickup trucks and debris lie strewn in a canal in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
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- A sign advertising a vacation rental is attached to a piece of wood amid the scattered debris of destroyed homes and businesses in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia.
Hurricane Idalia left a swath of destruction through Florida this week, leaving about $9 billion in damages behind. Now, volunteer members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are gathering to help with the cleanup.
Hundreds of Latter-day Saint volunteers are expected to mobilize in Florida this weekend to begin cleanup efforts. The hurricane hit the state’s Big Bend area on the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm Wednesday.
Several command centers are being set up by the church at meetinghouses in Lake City, Chiefland and Madison, Florida, according to a press release.
“Lives are changed every time we assist with disaster relief efforts,” said Elder M. Andrew Galt, an Area Seventy who will help oversee cleanup efforts, in the release. “We can help show love to all of God’s children. Through our actions, we testify of our savior, Jesus Christ.”
This weekend, volunteers from 15 stakes or congregations from Florida and Alabama will participate in the cleanup efforts. Two trucks from the church will deliver supplies to the area. The hurricane caused flooding and power outages in Florida and Georgia. Idalia has moved offshore but remains a tropical storm.
Latter-day Saint missionaries are safe, the church reported. All missionaries in Florida and Georgia in the path of the storm, as well as missionaries in the coastal Carolinas, were moved out of the way on Monday.
Several church buildings in Florida sustained damage, including meetinghouses in Cross City, Chiefland, Valdosta, Jacksonville Beach and Perry. According to the church, the Cross City Branch has major damage and flooding and is unusable. A church building in Tifton, Georgia, was also damaged.
The construction site for the Tampa Florida Temple in Valrico was not damaged, according to church reports.
