Billion-dollar rain

Disaster | Faith-based cleanup efforts across the Midwest begin with no end in sight | Mindy Belz

Jimmy Barrentine is a calm man in the midst of a storm. The executive director of the Baptist Convention of Iowa walks to the command center for relief efforts in Des Moines to get an accurate count of meals served by his organization to disaster victims across the state on June 18. Over 13,000 for the day, he states, but quickly wants to explain: "That number is down from what we estimated because Iowans are so self-reliant and communities so close-knit that they already are taking care of one another."

With over $1 billion in losses estimated statewide due to this month's floods and tornadoes, residents like Barrentine know that their work is only beginning. Hundreds of Southern Baptist volunteers from around the country are arriving to assist in "mud-out" work on thousands of waterlogged homes: removing carpet, dry-wall, and belongings, and treating homes for fungus and mildew.