When John Pearce was called to help victims of Hurricane Helene in Valdosta, Georgia, on the morning of September 28, software engineer JB Hunt didn’t hesitate to go.

As a member of Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief, Rogers Southern Baptist has accepted these types of missions since Hurricane Rita roared ashore in Texas in 2005.

His employer lets him use vacation time on short notice.

“I got a call on a Saturday at 10 o’clock. I was on the road at 11 o’clock,” he said.

Given the storm’s ferocity — it made landfall in Florida with sustained winds of 140 mph — there was never any doubt it would leave devastation: storm surges near shore, torrential rains and uprooted trees farther inland.