Fayetteville & Lumberton, North Carolina (Hurricane) / 118,700 Meals Over 8 Days
Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina in October 2016. This Category 5 hurricane left over $6 billion in damages and 28 people dead throughout the southeastern United States. In Lumberton, the Lumber River flooded and either damaged or destroyed multiple homes and...
Hammond & Baton Rouge, Lousiana (Flooding) / 313,587 Meals Over 13 Days
In August 2016, Louisiana experienced over 30 inches of rainfall during a three-day period which led to catastrophic flooding. Approximately 146,000 homes were damaged across the state and at least 13 people were killed. In response, Operation BBQ Relief quickly...
Eureka, Kansas (Tornado) / 1,700 Meals Over 3 Days
Eureka was impacted by two tornadoes late on July 7, 2016. An EF3 tornado occurred just northwest of Eureka and an EF2 tornado occurred through the city of Eureka. Luckily, there were no fatalities or serious injuries. But debris, damaged homes, and power loss led to...
Charleston & White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (Flooding) / 30,657 Meals Over 8 Days
On June 23, 2016, the states of West Virginia and Virginia experienced extreme flooding. Over a period of just 12 hours, these areas experienced an estimated 10 inches of rainfall. Resulting in 23 deaths, this was the deadliest flash flood event that had occured in...
Volunteer of the Year 2015 – Paul Peterson
Paul Peterson, Operation BBQ Relief’s 2015 Rod Cramer Volunteer of the Year, loves cooking for large groups and has a passion for helping others. Like a lot of OBR volunteers, Paul was moved by watching the effects of a devastating tornado in Moore, Oklahoma that...
Monroe, West Monroe & Shreveport, LA (Flooding) / 58,530 Meals Over 9 Days
From March 8 to 12, 2016, a slow-moving storm dropped over 20 inches of rain across northern Louisiana. This led to one of the most prolific flood disasters that the area had ever seen. Rain pounded the area, triggered extreme flash flooding, and caused thousands of...