Latter-day Saint Volunteers Aid in Florida Hurricane Cleanup

Hundreds of volunteers from  are expected to mobilize in Florida this weekend to begin cleanup efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia. The hurricane hit the state’s Big Bend area on the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm onThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the morning of Wednesday, August 30. Damage to the region is estimated at $9 billion in property loss.

Several command centers are being set up by the Church of Jesus Christ at meetinghouses in Lake City, Chiefland and Madison.

“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. “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.

Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ are safe. 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, August 28.

Several Church buildings in Florida sustained damage, including meetinghouses in Cross City, Chiefland, Valdosta, Jacksonville Beach and Perry. 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.