MORGAN CITY, La.—“Stop,” urged Chaplain Leslie Burch of the Texans on Mission Deep East Texas flood recovery team. “Can everybody stop and pray with me?”

She asked her fellow team members to halt their work as they tore out flooring in the home of Troy and Angel in Morgan City, La.

The couple’s home had been flooded during heavy rains that hit the Mississippi Delta town the week before as Hurricane Francine landed in southern Louisiana.

“Troy and Angel are talking about accepting Christ, and we need to pray for God’s Spirit,” Burch explained.

It was all she needed to say. The group left their scrapers, shovels and wheelbarrows, gathered in the living room, now an empty space with bare concrete floors, held hands and prayed for the young homeowners and their children.

The Texans on Mission team was one of two that responded to Francine’s aftermath, joining partner groups from several other states to provide flood recovery and tree and debris removal after the violent storm.

Like many Texans on Mission teams, the Francine volunteers represented a mix of churches and backgrounds from throughout southeastern Texas.

Burch, a member of First Baptist Church of Orange, said the team came to “serve the needs” of the flood victims.

Team leader Mike Petigo of First Baptist Church in Nederland explained the team had been assigned to do flood recovery.

“We’re taking out sheetrock and disinfecting their homes so that survivors can get ready to put new sheetrock back in,” Petigo said.

For Steve Hammer of Covenant Church in Willis, the recovery efforts were about “getting it all cleaned out so these people can get on with their lives.

“We’re here today, about a week after the hurricane came through, and it’s important,” Hammer added. “We’re cleaning out houses now, because it gets nastier and nastier and nastier as time goes on.”

Pastor on the receiving end of ministry

Homeowners Tracey and Marci Smith were grateful for the team, who removed the lower two feet of their home’s sheetrock to ready it for replacement after flood waters seeped in and posed a mold danger.

It was especially meaningful for Tracey Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church of Morgan City, where the combined relief teams camped in Bible study rooms and ate in the fellowship hall.

Smith has been involved in Louisiana Baptist disaster relief in previous hurricane recoveries, but after Francine flooded his home, he found himself on the receiving end of disaster response.

Taking a break from helping the Texas team tear out lower walls and treat for mold, he offered his perspective on the recent storm.

“Well, we’ve been through this before. We’ve been through Hurricanes Laura and Delta back in 2020. But we didn’t have flooding like this,” Smith said.

Smith rode out the flooding in his truck outside his home. Marci Smith said that as the water rose and came closer to their house, Tracey “sat in the truck with the two dogs” near his fishing boat in case he needed to “help our neighbors escape.” It was not needed, but he was ready to help.

The Smiths’ own home became surrounded by an unbroken sea of water.

“It’s just kind of a hopeless feeling not being able to stop or prevent that from happening,” Tracey said.

The day after the storm, he said, the couple noticed the water “was migrating more and more throughout the house.

“So, we didn’t know to what degree we were going to have to remove the flooring or walls or anything like that,” he said. “It pretty much changes your routine and most definitely changes your way of life. You know that it’s not going to be back to what you would consider normal anytime soon.”

Tracey Smith has responded to other disasters, including Hurricane Ian in 2022 when he worked with Texas volunteers. So, he knew what to expect from the volunteers when they arrived.

“We knew the quality job” they would do, Tracey said. “We knew that they were going to be more than willing to do whatever we needed. And we were just glad to have them. … This is a good bunch.”

Members from the Maryland Car Rally Task Force, working in collaboration with the Maryland State Police Special Operations Division, and allied police agencies disrupted twelve unlawful exhibition driving events throughout multiple Maryland counties, including Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore, Saturday night.

Police responded to several locations where up to 500 participants gathered in parking lots attempting to shut down intersections throughout the region. Police responded to the following locations at the approximate times:

• 8 p.m.: 4732-5400 Auth Pl, Suitland, MD
• 8:25 p.m.: 4900 Beech Rd, Temple Hills, MD
• 8:48 p.m.: 1811 Cabin Branch Dr, Hyattsville, MD
• 9:25 p.m.: 4870-488 Walden Lane, Lanham, MD
• 10:34 p.m.: 4041 Powder Mill Rd, Beltsville, MD
• 10:58 p.m.: 9600 Ft Meade Rd, Laurel, MD
• 11:26 p.m.: 10300 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia, MD
• 11:40 p.m.: 6821 Benjamin Franklin Dr, Columbia, MD
• 12:01 a.m.: 7500 Connelly Dr, Hanover, MD
• 12:04 a.m.: Route 29 N., Howard County, MD
• 12:34 a.m.: 1101 Wilson Dr, Baltimore, MD
• 12:58 a.m.: 2704 Washington Blvd, Baltimore, MD

Arrests were made that evening with additional participants having been charged from prior events. The individuals arrested and/or charged include:

• Jonathan Alonso Berrios-Cabrera, 18, of Arlington, Virginia – charged with fleeing and eluding police, negligent and reckless driving, and other traffic related offenses.
• Cregory Curry, 27, of Washington, D.C., — charged on a criminal summons for exhibition driving, as well as, fleeing and eluding police.
• Keanu Grissett, 23, of Waldorf, Maryland – charged by the Laurel City Police Department with theft of a motor vehicle and display of a stolen license plate. Additionally, the Laurel City Police Department arrested Raquan Stephon West, 28, of Laurel, Maryland, on outstanding warrants.
• Jamari McLaurin, 25, of Newport News, Virginia and Malek Omaryi Saviion Kingsberry, 26, of Hampton, Virginia – charged by the Anne Arundel County Police Department with several firearm-related offenses.

Since June 2024, the Maryland Car Rally task force has focused on investigating and addressing exhibition driving events, knowns as “takeovers”. These illegal activities involve blocking public roads for dangerous stunts, disrupting traffic, causing property damage, and posing risks to the public.

Increased patrols in identified hotspot areas have been conducted along with comprehensive investigations to identify and charge those involved. This proactive approach includes enhanced traffic enforcement and the initiation of criminal investigations against the perpetrators.

The Maryland Car Rally task force includes the Maryland Department of State Police, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, Prince George’s County Police, Baltimore City Police and police departments in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard and Montgomery counties. The combined efforts continue to be instrumental in effectively addressing illegal exhibition driving across the designated regions.

By collaborating our concentrated enforcement and investigative efforts strategically, particularly in areas where these incidents are most prevalent, the task force aims to mitigate the impact of these dangerous events on public safety and, thereby fostering a safer environment for all Maryland residents.

This entry was posted on October 2, 2024 at 11:34 am and is filed under All News, Anne Arundel News, Charles News, County, Crime Solvers, Law Enforcement, Prince George’s News, Top News, z 600X120 Top Ad Bottom, z Police Ad Top. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons says a new power plant being built in Washington County could be a boon to the local economy.

For the first time in 50 years, Entergy Mississippi is building a new natural gas power station. The facility will be the first combined-cycle combustion turbine power station the company has built from the ground up.

“It is a great day to witness the profound significance and impact of the $1.2 billion new Entergy plan for Greenville, Washington County, and the Mississippi Delta,” Simmons told the Clarion Ledger. “This initiative is a transformative project that promises to bring significant economic growth, improved infrastructure, and enhanced energy reliability to the region. For Greenville, the plan means a boost in job creation, particularly in the construction and energy sectors, which could lead to increased employment opportunities for local residents.”

The combined-cycle combustion turbine facility is a dual-fuel technology. While natural gas is the primary resource, the advanced facility will be designed to support blended hydrogen to produce reliable energy, according to Entergy.

When completed in 2028, this will be the fourth natural gas power station built by Entergy in the last two decades, following Attala Plant in Sallis (2006), Hinds Energy Facility in Jackson (2012) and Choctaw Energy Facility in French Camp (2019).

“As our customers’ needs and environmental factors evolve, so must our fleet. We’re investing in cleaner, more efficient power generation now, to help us keep bills lower for customers than they otherwise would be in the future,” Entergy president and CEO Haley Fisackerly said in a statement.

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Simmons said the Entergy plan represents a major step forward in modernizing the energy grid in the Mississippi Delta, ensuring that residents and businesses have access to more reliable and sustainable energy.

“As an advocate for investments that uplift underserved and rural communities, I see this project as a key driver in bridging the development gap in the region,” Simmons said. “The plan aligns with the city’s long-standing efforts to promote economic revitalization, infrastructure improvement, and environmental sustainability, not only in Greenville but across the Delta. This partnership with Entergy showcases Greenville as a forward-thinking city, ready to embrace modern solutions for growth while addressing the needs of its citizens and businesses alike.”

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Eventually, the company will retire the Gerald Andrus Steam Electric Station, which is currently located in Greenville. By replacing older power plants with more advanced and efficient technology, Entergy Mississippi says it is producing more electricity from the same amount of fuel while reducing carbon emissions.

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.