The storm left a path of devastation across the Southeast, from the coast of Florida to the mountains of North Carolina.
Samaritan’s Purse is responding in five locations across four states after Hurricane Helene devastated parts of the Southeast.
President Donald Trump and Franklin Graham were in Valdosta, Georgia, today and saw devastation from Hurricane Helene. Samaritan’s Purse is at work there and President Trump said, “We’ve seen you at many different sites over the years, and you do a fantastic job!”
Helene tore through western North Carolina, dumping extreme rainfall—more than 2 feet in some areas—and causing terrible flash flooding. Some parts of the region are in ruins. We are providing relief in the mountains of Watauga County, North Carolina—home to Samaritan’s Purse international headquarters in the town of Boone. The town and surrounding communities have been particularly hard-hit with toppled trees, flooding, road damage, and a lack of power and water. This response extends to include neighboring counties in North Carolina (Ashe, Avery) and eastern Tennessee (Johnson), and our church base is Alliance Bible Fellowship in Boone.
Samaritan’s Purse volunteers are helping in Watauga County, North Carolina.
Southwest of Boone, rivers also raged outside their banks causing widespread destruction in the Asheville, North Carolina, area. Long stretches of interstate artery I-40 are shut down, after sections washed out. Our response there is focused on Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, Black Mountain, Montreat, and Swannanoa. Our base is the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove.
Volunteers are cutting up trees in Buncombe County, North Carolina, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene.
Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham said on Facebook, “Samaritan’s Purse responds to help with storms and crises around the world every day, but now the storm has hit in our own backyard. Hurricane Helene slammed western North Carolina and the surrounding area, as well as Georgia and Florida. Homes have been flooded and some even washed away, trees are down, tens of thousands are still without power. We would be grateful for your prayers for all those affected by this storm.”
Samaritan’s Purse is also responding to some of the many medical needs in western North Carolina. We have deployed a 20-bed Emergency Field Hospital—designed as an emergency room triage unit—at Cannon Memorial Hospital in the town of Linville (Avery County). The facility, requested by the Appalachian Regional Health System/UNC Health System, is staffed by our Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) medical personnel. Search-and-rescue teams are scouring Avery County and expect an influx of injured people. We are also providing oxygen at different locations to support those who have power at home.
We airlifted food and water to a college in a North Carolina community isolated by flooding.
Many communities in the High Country of North Carolina and far eastern Tennessee are cut off by damaged roads, downed trees, and flooding. Samaritan’s Purse is coordinating air relief to some of these locations—delivering basic necessities to those in dire straits using our own helicopter as well as the aircraft of other organizations. We are working through various local contacts, including our Operation Christmas Child partner churches, to identify those who are suffering and then to respond as requested. We praise God we have been able to deliver much food, water, and other relief to those isolated by the storm.
A U.S. Disaster Relief truck arrives at partner church in North Carolina.
Samaritan’s Purse also has two U.S. Disaster Relief bases in Florida and one in Georgia. We have one response site in Perry, Florida, where the storm made landfall with 140-mph winds along the Big Bend. Helene hit there late on Sept. 26 at Category 4 strength, making it the strongest storm to hit the area in recorded history. Our Perry base is at Calvary Baptist Church. We are also responding in greater Tampa, Florida, where thousands of homes have been flooded. At this site, we are being supported by our Canadian affiliate office. Our base is Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg in Pinellas Park.
South Georgia also got slammed, and we have set up a base in Valdosta at our partner congregation, Morningside Baptist Church.
We are serving the Buncombe County area from the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove.
Samaritan’s Purse U.S. Disaster Relief staff members are on the ground in all five locations. We are partnering with local churches to field teams who are helping hurting homeowners in Jesus’ Name. Volunteers are assisting to mud out homes, cut downed trees, tarp roofs, and remove debris to help families get through this historic crisis.
Day and overnight volunteers started Sept. 30 in all locations. You can find more details about all our responses and how you can volunteer at spvolunteer.org. Please prayerfully consider serving as many volunteers will be needed to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to help the hurting.
On the first day of volunteering in Valdosta, our teams helped Mariah Mitchell, 80, a retired kindergarten teacher of 37 years. She said, “I’ve never seen something this bad in all my days. Real bad.” She prayed Psalm 91 over her home during the storm, and said she was not afraid because she knew the Lord was with her. A tree fell on her home, and Samaritan’s Purse is clearing it from her roof and tarping the hole both from inside and outside.
About our volunteers, she had this to say: “They’ve been really, really blessing me. The Lord sent them, because I need them. He knew I needed them.” She added, “Ya’ll came a long way to help me, and I don’t take it for granted.”
A Samaritan’s Purse staff member prays with Mariah while volunteers work on her damaged home.
The size of Hurricane Helene, one of the biggest Gulf storms documented over the past century, was truly remarkable, with a wind field measuring hundreds of miles across—in part explaining the geographic breadth of the damage it caused.
Please pray for all communities along the path of this massive storm as they recover and as we respond to affected areas. More than 160 storm-related deaths have been reported with many people still missing; please keep affected families in your prayers as well. This is the second deadliest storm to hit the mainland United States over the past 50 years.
Note: This story was originally published on Sept. 26 and has been revised continuously. It is accurate through Oct. 2.
