Deployments Since 2011

Combining our skills as competition cooks, caterers and chefs to provide meals to those affected and first responders of disasters in the United States. Since 2011 our volunteers and teams have deployed for 394 days in 26 states after 66 disasters.

  • When a disaster strikes, we evaluate multiple factors: size, destruction, people affected and services affected.  Based on what we learn, we determine whether or not to deploy and the estimated size, duration and needs.  At that time, notifications go out to our volunteers and state leads and we begin executing our standard operating procedures.
  • Operation BBQ Relief is surrounded by an incredible group of volunteers and supporters across the country who spring into action when disaster relief is needed.
  • If you have not already done so please sign up as a volunteer and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also help by donating.

Deployments 2011 – 2020

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Deployment Map New

2011
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2019
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2021
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Linwood, Kansas (Tornado) / 2,000 Meals Over 2 Days

On the evening of May 28, 2019, a mile-wide EF-4 tornado ripped through Douglas and Leavenworth counties in Kansas, packing winds of up to 170 mph. Luckily there were only 18 reported injuries, but numerous homes were damaged or destroyed…Linwood,…

Dayton, Ohio (Tornado) / 15,172 Meals Over 6 Days

A severe storm system including tornadoes hit the Dayton, Ohio, area late evening on May 27, 2019, leaving approximately 68,000 households and businesses in the state were without power. The weather service issued 36 tornado warnings across…

Franklin & Alto, Texas (Tornado) / 1,960 Meals Over 3 Days

On April 13, 2019, OBR was cooking and serving The One Hot Meal That Matters just a few short hours after a tornado hit the towns of Franklin and Alto, Texas. We received a call from the Franklin’s Emergency Manager that help was needed and…

Freeport, Illinois (Flood) / 3,681 Meals Over 4 Days

Heavy rain and quick snow melt atop still-frozen ground forced runoff into rivers and creeks across the Midwest during the second week of March 2019. Historic flooding along the east bank of the Pecatonica River (cresting at 16.45′, the highest…

Fremont, Nebraska (Flood) / 15,830 Meals Over 18 Days

Heavy rains caused widespread flooding. In Nebraska, flood records have been shattered in 17 places.

Chico, California (Fire) / 5,225 Meals Over 6 Days

The Camp Fire in November 2018 was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history to date.

Tallahassee & Panama City, Florida (Hurricane) / 808,220 Meals Over 30 Days

Hurricane Michael was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous US in terms of pressure. Michael made landfall as a high-end Category 4 hurricane. Hurricane-force wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and higher than…

Wilmington & Hope Mills, North Carolina (Hurricane) / 323,925 Meals Served Over 16 Days

Hurricane Florence caused severe damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding. Florence dropped a maximum total of 35.93 inches (913 mm) of rain in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, becoming the wettest…