Feature

‘Care for Our Neighbor in Body and Soul’

Amid the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, God works through His church — in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and beyond — for the good of His people.

Story by Stacey Eising | Photography by Erik M. Lunsford | Winter 2025

On the evening of Sept. 26, Eric Macke sat in his home in St. Petersburg, Fla., with his wife and three children, watching the water rise. Hurricane Helene was out in the Gulf of Mexico and barreling north toward the Florida Panhandle. But the Category 4 storm was so powerful that it was pushing great quantities of water ashore — a “storm surge” that would peak at over 6 feet above regular high-tide levels, breaking the 1985 record in St. Petersburg by over 2 feet.

The water had crept halfway up the Mackes’ driveway when they decided to leave. They waded through shallow water to carry their children to the car and then drove to a friend’s house. Two hours later, they heard that their neighbors’ houses were beginning to flood.

Later that night, Helene made landfall near Perry, Fla., and carried on, causing destruction and flooding across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama. At least 228 people died, making Helene the deadliest hurricane in the mainland U.S. since Katrina.

Flooding was particularly — and unexpectedly — catastrophic in the mountainous western part of North Carolina. Responders were not prepared for the severity of the damage as Asheville and surrounding communities experienced unprecedented flooding. Among those affected were four LCMS churches, one LCMS summer camp and many member families’ homes — millions of dollars’ worth of damage.

When the Mackes returned home the next morning, they could see the 2-foot flood line on the outside of their house. Their driveway was piled with seaweed. “I spent most of the morning just getting to the door,” said Eric Macke.

Before long, friends arrived to help save as many belongings and materials in the house as possible. Among those who came were fellow members and teachers from Grace Lutheran Church and School in St. Petersburg, where the Mackes attend and where Eric teaches history and religion.

Two members of a Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) also came, helping Macke with the labor-intensive work of pulling up hardwood floorboards. These volunteers were part of a larger LERT crew responding to damage Helene had done to the homes of around 50 of Grace’s member families, as well as those of 15 member families from Our Savior Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg.

The Rev. Kevin Loughran (right), pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, St. Petersburg, Fla., prays with (from left) Eric and Laura Macke, LCMS SELC District Disaster Response Coordinator Steve Lehenbauer, LCMS Disaster Response Director Rev. Dr. Ross Johnson and Vicar Jonathan Poppe at the Mackes’ flood-damaged home in St. Petersburg.

Prepared for a Moment Like This

Since that time, LERT volunteers have deployed across multiple states, operating primarily out of eight congregations across Florida, North Carolina and Georgia.

John Scherschel, a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Ocala, Fla., who went through LERT training a few years ago, spent three weeks serving with teams on three separate deployments: in Valdosta, Ga.; Augusta, Ga.; and Sarasota, Fla.

On each of these deployments, the local LCMS church housed and fed the volunteers. Each day, volunteers were sent out with chainsaws to clear downed trees from houses and properties, muck out flooded houses, and visit and pray with residents.

“Everyone is really thankful,” said Scherschel. “Most of them couldn’t do the work themselves or couldn’t afford to have it done.” Hiring crews to perform this work is enormously expensive — and can be next to impossible after a major hurricane.

Every year, LCMS Disaster Response coordinates LERT training sessions across the country, preparing certified volunteers to serve their neighbor in the name of Christ when disaster strikes. Across his three LERT deployments in October, Scherschel served alongside Lutherans “from all over.” He remembers working with LERT volunteers from Florida, Texas, Iowa, Indiana, North Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas and Illinois.

Lutheran Early Response Team volunteers Carl Dixon, John Scherschel and the Rev. Steve Jacobsen fix a damaged post at a home in Harlem, Ga., in October.

The Rev. Steven Jacobsen, pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Carrollton, Ill., and St. John Lutheran Church, Kampsville, Ill., recently completed a LERT chainsaw training offered in his circuit. After Helene hit, he drove down to Augusta, Ga., to help with the response for two days.

Why are these Lutherans — even pastors — out with chainsaws and hard hats in the wake of a hurricane? “We care for our neighbor in body and soul, just as our Lord did,” said Jacobsen.

God’s Grace Amid Disaster

Less than two weeks after Helene, the Mackes, along with many others along the Florida coast, were preparing to evacuate in the face of another storm: Hurricane Milton.

“We joked that this was the perfect time for a hurricane to hit our house,” said Macke. But what Macke and the rest of Grace’s community did not expect was the damage that the church and school would sustain.

Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Fla. — less than 50 miles south of St. Petersburg — around 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, as a Category 3 storm. Across Florida, at least 10 LCMS congregations sustained damage between the two hurricanes, as well as two LCMS preschools and countless homes of congregation members.

“I have never, ever been through an extended period of wind and rain like we went through that day,” said the Rev. Kevin Loughran, pastor of Grace, St. Petersburg. The rain started around 4 a.m. that morning and was steady all day. Just as darkness fell, the rain got even more intense.

Around 9 p.m., Loughran received a video from the school principal, who had sheltered in the church: Water was streaming down the wall of the church’s narthex. Further, drains in the courtyard had become clogged with debris from the high winds, causing it to fill like a “fishbowl.” Water was flowing into the sanctuary, classrooms and school offices around it.

When Loughran arrived the next day, the sanctuary still had 2 to 3 inches of water throughout. Well over half of the school’s 24 classrooms had flooded.

That morning, more than 40 volunteers arrived: a LERT team, as well as members of the church, school families and a number of community members. The trained LERT responders provided helpful direction for this influx of volunteers, said Loughran. Volunteers tore up the carpet and unscrewed the pews, placing them on blocks. Thanks to these efforts, Grace’s organ, gym floor and wooden pews were all saved.

The Rev. Bryan Chestnutt, pastor of Mountainside Lutheran Church, Linville, N.C., surveys flood damage with the Rev. Michael Meyer, managing director of Congregations and Districts for the LCMS Office of National Mission, at Camp Linn Haven in November.

Eric Macke, whose classroom was rendered unusable by the flood, was a part of the weekslong recovery work at Grace. “It’s been a lot of good bonding. While you’re picking up sticks and cutting a tree down, what are you doing? You’re talking to your fellow Christian. You’re getting to know them better,” said Macke.

Grace’s congregation was out of its sanctuary for just one Sunday. At their “reopening” service the following week, many community members who had helped with the recovery were in attendance.

“I know what my God did for me in sending His Son to the cross to die for my sin,” said Loughran. “I know those texts inside and out — I’ve been a pastor for 30 years. I’ve preached on them countless times: about how dark the sky turns, about the earthquake as Jesus breathed His last on the cross. I know that God works His greatest good when everything seems to be falling around us. … I don’t doubt for a moment God’s grace. I’ve seen it … as the whole community — seemingly our whole world around us — has turned out to help.”

Walking Together to Rebuild

Across the affected states, the rebuilding efforts have just begun. LCMS Disaster Response has distributed well over $1 million in grant funds to support those affected by the hurricanes. These funds will support the LCMS Southeastern and Florida-Georgia districts, LCMS Recognized Service Organizations, and LERT disaster response centers, while also providing aid to affected LCMS congregations and schools, church workers, and congregation members.

As of early November, the LERT response was still in full swing. This volunteer labor will save homeowners an estimated $1 million, said the Rev. Dr. Ross Johnson, director of LCMS Disaster Response.

In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, there are countless stories of devastation, tragedy and destruction. Yet amid this loss and chaos, God is — as always — working through His church, for the good of His people.

Learn More

Read a Reporter article about recovery in North Carolina

Learn more about the Synod’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Make a gift to support LCMS Disaster Response

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Stacey Eising

Managing editor for The Lutheran Witness.