Our Safe Harbor Church

Hurricane Helene Relief - Hurricane Helene, large, catastrophic tropical cyclone notable for its rapid intensification that ultimately produced a wide swath of damage and loss of life that extended from northwestern Florida, where the storm made landfall on September 26, 2024, to Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. Helenes high winds and flooding killed more than 230 people, making it the deadliest hurricane to strike the U.S. since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico in 2017. Some estimates put the economic impact of the storm, including property and infrastructure damage, as high as $200 billion, which would make Helene the costliest storm in U.S. history. Helene moved inland during the early morning hours of September 27, and by 5:00 am EDT, with the storms center located over central Georgia, NOAA officials downgraded it to a tropical storm. However, some three hours later, Helene turned northwest, its center cutting across western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Although Helenes winds had diminished to tropical-storm strength, the storm delivered a broad and deadly swath of heavy rain across the southeastern U.S. In parts of Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, record rainfall caused rivers to overflow and produced flash flooding, road washouts, and even landslides in some areas. The OSHC community wanted to know how they could help. OSHC contacted One Gen Away and determined that One Gen would be the perfect organization to partner with to most effectively and efficiently help those people effected by Hurricane Helene, specifically in eastern Tennessee and North Carolina. The funds started flooding in from all over the country. In 2024 OSHC folks donated nearly $19k towards hurricane relief which allowed OSHC to then give One Gen Away $19.5k for hurricane relief efforts in 2024.