The Privileged Life: Are You Ready When Disaster Strikes?
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling….The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.” (Psalm 46:1-3,7 NKJV)
The events of the past three days have been sobering in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destructive path. It’s unthinkable that a tropical hurricane could hit Appalachia so hard.
Damage in east Tennessee is catastrophic. Dozens of people are missing from flash floods that ripped through mountain passageways and took entire homes with them.
The Nolichucky River roared through Erwin—destroying the interstate highway, a hospital, a plant, and countless other buildings and bridges. The water treatment supply for Greene County is no longer functional, requiring repairs that could take weeks. Downtown Newport was deluged by a dam break. The Doe River overflowed past a Roan Mountain retreat center (where I had attended a writer’s group only four days earlier) and churned through communities on its way down.
To give you a perspective on the strength of these floods, I learned a tidbit of information just before posting this blog: According to one report, Niagara Falls on a full day spews water at a rate of 700,000 gallons per second. In a narrow sluiceway just downriver from my brother’s home, the water flowed over the Nolichucky Dam last Saturday at a rate of 1.3 million gallons per second. This event is now considered a 500-year flood that swept over dam construction designed to contain a 100-year flood.1
In western North Carolina, Asheville and many of its neighboring towns are isolated by road damage, loss of power, loss of water, and no cellphone service. A big chunk of I-40 has sloughed off into the Pigeon River. The village at Chimney Rock is wiped out. Samaritan’s Purse operations, based in Boone, are already conducting relief efforts for the entire region even as they cope with destruction in their own backyard.
The death toll for the region is still rising.
Where I live in Washington County is relatively unscathed. We’ve only lost power briefly, along with a few tree limbs. Our daughter’s home is in a “boil water advisory” zone. Stores here are cleared out of bottled water, and I imagine our gasoline stations will go through periods of emptied supply tanks. But that’s absolutely nothing compared to watching your entire home crushed under violent, muddy water…or finding that your beloved family members have lost their lives in it.
I’ve learned I’m not as well prepared for disaster as I thought.
Sure, I’ve got a bunch of canned foods stashed away and some flashlights around here somewhere. But my life comes to a standstill with the mere shutdown of electricity. Loss of water would be even more jarring. I need to up my prep game to handle the same unexpected losses so many of our nearby citizens have endured.
The most important advance preparation for me, I know, is to have my spiritual action plan in place. I think of Ann Austin, a missionary trainer who once said, “The emergency room is not the place to figure out our theology.” We need to go deep now, before the storms hit, to taste and see that the Lord is good, to know that His good hand is upon us. Austin knew this well because her first husband died very young from a heart attack.
“We need to base our faith and daily spiritual walk on God and His attributes, not on our current circumstances,” Austin said. “God does not change. Whether we are walking through a sunlit glade or a raging fire, our walk will be steady if our minds and hearts are fixed on who God is and what He has already done for us.”
I know from personal experience that you won’t have time to “get things right with God” when you’re in the middle of a rampaging torrent. I was once dragged alongside a capsized canoe in a flooded Arkansas River, dodging submerged trees and getting scraped up in the process, with my too-large life vest limiting my vision. I confess that my thoughts and words at that moment weren’t spiritually mature.
How about you? Could you cope with a disaster as sudden as a flash flood or lightning strike? Would you have the presence of mind to call on God for salvation and peace in the storm? Would you have the resources, both physical and spiritual, to reach out a hand and help others in the same tempest?
We all need this kind of wake-up call, to have our groundwork ready before disastrous situations. We need to be firmly planted on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. Only He is our Rock and Anchor when the waters rush in. Only He will remain beside us when we lose our grip and everything else.
Right now, we can all pray for those who are on the frontlines—the first responders, linemen, healthcare workers, government officials, and essential services—and for those who are still in harm’s way, entrapped on mountainsides without basic provisions. Pray for the families who have lost loved ones or are still waiting for word on missing persons. Pray for volunteers with Samaritan’s Purse who are reaching out now, in the name of Jesus, to help those in need. Pray for the recovery in our region, which will be costly and slow.
If you want to help in tangible ways, go to Samaritan’s Purse to watch the videos, read the stories, donate, and sign up to volunteer for the relief efforts.
May you, my friend, prepare yourself now with the “lifejacket of faith” to survive the floods of the future. And may God give you His peace, strength, and reassurance as you face trials today.
Lord Jesus, only You are my Defense, Rock, and Refuge in times of trouble. Only You can preserve me when the floods engulf me at times. Please prepare my heart now to be firmly grounded in You. Please grant me Your peace and the wherewithal to be Your servant to others when disaster strikes. Send Your Holy Spirit and Your angels to guard those who are still in harm’s way, to comfort those who have experienced loss, to aid those who are responding with help. Revive our region and all of America to worship You alone, to walk in Your ways, to be a beacon of light to the rest of the world. In Your powerful name, Amen.
The hospital in Erwin was flooded, and more than 50 people had to be evacuated by helicopter from the roof.
Doe River at Roan Mountain, Tenn.
An aerial view of the destruction in the Erwin area, with collapsed I-26 bridge
Nancy C. Williams is a Christian wife/mom with a writing career spanning more than 40 years in business and journalism. Williams is the author of the novel To Love a Falcon and the devotional book A Crocus in the Desert: Devotions, Stories, and Prayers for Women Experiencing Infertility. Her weekly blogs are featured on Crossmap.com and AriseDaily. To follow Nancy’s posts and news, go to her home page at NancyCWilliams.com and subscribe at the bottom.
© Copyright 2024 Nancy C. Williams (text; photography by Tennessee State Representative Rebecca Alexander and by my brother Jim). Unless otherwise noted, Scripture verses are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
#disasterplanning #prepping #disasterrelief #samaritanspurse #tennesseefloods #hurricanehelene #northcarolinafloods #flashflood #nolichucky
1https://www.aol.com/nolichucky-dam-flow-reached-nearly-133424174.html
See my previous blog on disasters— https://nancycwilliams.com/2024/01/16/the-privileged-life-prepare-for-bad-news-with-the-good-news/
