In Limestone County, a disaster relief organization is preparing to assist people impacted by Hurricane Zeta after just getting back Tuesday night from helping people in South Alabama from previous storms.

The Limestone Baptist Disaster Relief Teams Director of Missions, Kevin Ward, said they're waiting for the call to head back to the coast. He said once they know where help is needed, they can pack up their supplies and head south again.

“There’ll be small communities that are adversely affected that have a concentration of damage that may not be on the news. It’s not Mobile or it’s not Gulf Shores, but it’ll be a small community that needs attention," said Ward. "So, we work really hard to try and meet as many of those needs as possible and stay quite some time to try and fulfill all those requests and things that are out there.”

Ward says they work closely with other groups responding to natural disasters so they can maximize their relief efforts.

"It’s never good to just show up when there’s been a disaster. You become more of a problem than a help if you don’t have somewhere to take items that you’re collecting or somewhere to deliver it.”

He said once they get the call, they expect to help the most with clean-up, like tarping roofs and removing fallen trees. Ward said right now, the pandemic makes it even harder for those in the line of hurricanes. Because of the coronavirus, he said his team is down to roughly 15 members.

Even with the fatigue of a busy hurricane season, Ward said they realize the importance of helping others.

“There’s more needs today than there were pre-COVID and not all of them are physical, and so being able to meet that need can relieve a stress that somebody has on their life, in addition to the stress of life that’s going on," said Ward.

The Limestone Disaster Relief Team is part of the Southern Baptist Relief, so if you want to help, you can contact either organization.

For the Limestone Disaster Relief Team, click here.

For the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, click here.