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Despite the largest relief effort ever by the Southern Baptists, there is little immediate aid in sight as rescuers and other workers continue to evacuate those stranded by the flood and destruction following Hurricane Katrina and provide for those who have fled the Gulf Coast. Unable to provide food, water, or sometimes even security, rescue and relief efforts have so far made little impact.

"This is day three of the disaster, which is typically the most difficult day," Jim Burton, director of volunteer mobilization at the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board said yesterday. "We are beginning to understand the extent of the damage and the logistical challenges that lie ahead."

Because of bad roads, downed bridges, and other infrastructure problems, supplies have not yet reached many who need them. "People are walking into the church wanting water and ice and food. We don't have any of it yet," said Dennis Ray Smith, associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Pascagoula, Mississippi. "We've asked them to be patient, but we've had to lock the doors because we found people going through the volunteers' belongings, and they're just storming the church."

Refugees who were being sheltered at the New Orleans Superdome are now being evacuated to the Astrodome in Houston because of lack of water, food, and rising tempers.

Those who have already fled have found churches eager to help. Memorial Drive United Methodist Church in west Houston placed flyers on the windshields of cars with out-of-state license plates inviting refugees for a free spaghetti meal. "By noon Wednesday, 300 refugees from the hurricane were downing spaghetti with tomato sauce, salad, and bread, their first home-cooked meal in days."

"So many people were already right in our neighborhood," said Cynthia Harvey, associate pastor of the west Houston church. "So we said, 'Let's focus on food and take it from there.'" Houston's Astrodome is expecting 25,000 refugees, and San Antonio is expecting another 25,000.

Much more help is on the way. People like Richard and Sarah Trimble of Pensacola, Florida, have joined church and faith-based organizations to help feed, clothe, and shelter the hurricane's victims. The Southern Baptist Convention has more than 1000 volunteers and 100 mobile disaster relief units ready to assist refugees. The Salvation Army has arranged for 55 mobile feeding centers to provide meals for 500,000 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

However, the Army has struggled to coordinate its efforts due to the destruction and lack of communication. "We're trying to work under some very difficult circumstances," said Maj. Dalton Cunningham of the Salvation Army. "Right now, we've got 200 people trapped in our New Orleans building … . They're running out of food."

Yet the Salvation Army has had some successes. "The Salvation Army yesterday beefed up its Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network, or SATERN, a nationwide network of 2,800 amateur radio operators working to link stranded victims with search-and-rescue workers," writes The Washington Post reporter Elizabeth Williamson:

About 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, SATERN volunteer Russ Fillinger was running the network when he got an emergency call from an operator near Tulsa. One member of a group of more than 15 people trapped on the roof of a building in downtown New Orleans had used a dying cell phone to call a family member in Tulsa, who relayed the S.O.S. to the local Red Cross. The charity contacted a ham operator in the area, who contacted Fillinger.

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September (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49