Samaritan's Purse is preparing a response to help homeowners in the wake of terrible flooding
UPDATED: August 22
Unprecedented mid-August rainfall swamped a large swath of the Gulf Coast, battering the region from Alabama to east Texas, killing more than 10 people and causing widespread damage. South-central Louisiana and southern Mississippi were especially hard hit, with some areas receiving more than two feet of rain.
Using high-water vehicles, boats, and helicopters, rescuers—including National Guard troops—plucked as many as 30,000 people from rooftops, submerged cars, or other precarious places. Some were saved just in the nick of time. An astounding 60,000 homes were damaged, and 100,000 people have applied for federal assistance.
Homeowners will need lots of assistance once waters recede.
On August 15 Samaritan’s Purse sent four U.S. Disaster Relief staff members to assess the greatest areas of need in Louisiana and Mississippi, said Luther Harrison, vice president of North American Ministries.
Our team is in prayer for the families affected by this devastating flooding, he said, and we look forward to ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of homeowners.
VOLUNTEER NOW
Continue to check this website for updates on our response. Details for volunteers have been released at SP Volunteer Network. Our first base is located at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Our second base is located at Crossroads Church in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. Volunteers begin Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Flooding has caused major damage in southern Louisiana.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards called the widespread flooding a “truly historic event” and “a major disaster.” Thirty of Louisiana’s 64 parishes have been declared disaster areas.
Continue to check this website for updates on our response. Details for volunteers have been released at SP Volunteer Network. Our first base is located at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Our second base is located at Crossroads Church in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. Volunteers begin Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains will join this response and provide spiritual and emotional care to distressed flood survivors.
Please pray for those in the path of these floods. Pray for our staff and volunteers—that they would provide relief to Gulf Coast residents and point them to the Comforter (see John 14:16).
Samaritan’s Purse already deployed staff and volunteers to Louisiana earlier this year. In April and May, teams fanned out across northeast Louisiana after 27 inches of rain fell. That storm was called “Little Katrina,” evoking images of the catastrophic hurricane that devastated New Orleans and Mississippi in 2005. Serving in Jesus’ Name, they were deployed for 12 weeks through Memorial Day.
