By Message Staff
First Baptist Church in Haughton opened its doors Tuesday evening to neighbors whose homes were flooded after a strong system produced high winds and up to a foot of rain in some areas.
Regardless of the amount of time evacuees need to stay at the designated American Red Cross shelter, Pastor Gevan Spinney says his congregation will shine the love of Christ in a dismal situation.
“The evacuees have been very grateful but are devastated,” said Spinney, who also is Louisiana Baptist Convention president. “Most of the people here have lost a lot and are kind of shell shocked. We plan on loving them as long as we need to.”
Nine people stayed inside the church’s Family Life Center Tuesday evening, and the church as well as some area businesses are providing food for the evacuees, Spinney said.
“We are getting a lot of texts and calls from people in the community asking how they can help,” Spinney said. “We’ve gone through some tragedies in Haughton as a community in the past and this proves again that folks love on each other and take care of their neighbors.”
Louisiana associational directors of missions in the affected areas told the Baptist Message no churches were damaged in the first wave of bad weather. However, Gibbie McMillan, state disaster relief director for Louisiana Baptists, said he and his disaster relief leaders were monitoring the situation.
The Associated Press reported that 7 to 11 inches of rain fell in southern Bossier Parish, southeast Caddo Parish, northern DeSoto Parish and most of Webster Parish. Another 7 to 10 inches of rain could fall in the next 24 to 36 hours.
As waters rose, evacuations of residents from their homes became commonplace.
The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office reported 30 or 40 homes in the Fox Chase subdivision in Haughton were evacuated Tuesday, some by boat. Additionally, Haughton Police Department officers and Bossier Parish Sheriff’s deputies rescued residents from 24 households in the Tall Timbers subdivision in Haughton.
By Wednesday morning, much of the high water that closed streets in Bossier City had receded, but some roads remain closed. Bossier City Police are urging caution when traveling and are making preparations to respond to flooding from the additional rain expected to move into the area.
In Minden, 80 homes were evacuated and water was reportedly in the Webster Parish Courthouse, according to Sheriff Gary Sexton. The staff of the Meadowview Health and Rehab Center in Minden evacuated some of its building due to flooding. The sheriff’s office was pleading with motorists Wednesday morning to stay off roadways.
“Although roadways may appear to be passable, please don’t travel if at all possible,” the sheriff’s office said on its Facebook page. “The conditions are very dangerous and it wouldn’t take much with the weight of a vehicle to make the roadway collapse. Although roadways may appear to be passable, please don’t travel if at all possible. The conditions are very dangerous and it wouldn’t take much with the weight of a vehicle to make the roadway collapse.”
The Baptist Message will continue monitoring the situation and update this developing story on baptistmessage.com.
