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BRANCHVILLE -- South Carolina United Methodist Volunteers in Mission responded to Branchville to help with tornado recovery on Tuesday, March 18.
Teams of volunteers weatherized houses and used chain saws to cut trees away from homes and other property.
UMVIM members came from Trinity UMC in Bamberg, the Presbyterian church in Orangeburg and North UMC.
Three homes were completely covered with tarps, and one of the chainsaw jobs included removing a massive tree from a home using a backhoe and large chain saws from elevated heights, said Billy Robinson of North, the state's UMVIM disaster coordinator.
"We knew some new needs would surface ... in Branchville but did not expect this many," he said. "God provided the good volunteer labor and materials, and all urgent needs were met."
The volunteers were scheduled to travel to Allendale County to help with recovery efforts there Wednesday.
Robinson said a UMVIM team from Pond Branch UMC near Gilbert responded to the Elgin area Tuesday afternoon.
"They placed tarps on two homes' roofs and on a shed," he said. "They then (helped at a home) near Batesburg/Leesville. There, they applied tarping and tin to a home that had its entire roof blown away."
Robinson said the S.C. UMVIM has requested teams from Georgia and North Carolina to help with the relief effort, and the Rev. Bruce Palmer has become the contact person for those wishing to volunteer in the effort.
"All this has come at just the right time, as I was about to start pulling my hair out," Robinson said. "God always has a way of coming through in his perfect timing ... Just as I was literally running out of the means to continue filling my truck with gas -- I have been burning a tank of gas a day -- and purchasing other needed items, people and our conference have come through with some (badly) needed funds."
"Praise be to God, and I thank all who have given whatever they can," he said.