Volunteers are serving as the hands and feet of Jesus throughout the storm-battered community.
Samaritan’s Purse volunteers are hard at work in West Virginia, after torrential rainfall triggered devastating flash floods in the state’s northern panhandle. A state of emergency was declared for Ohio County, where homes were flooded and bridges were washed away as local creeks rose to dangerous levels in a matter of minutes. At least seven people lost their lives.
Working alongside local emergency management and church leaders, Samaritan’s Purse responded to the Mountain State shortly after the floods subsided to help hurting homeowners in Jesus’ Name.
After floods, Samaritan’s Purse volunteers help homeowners remove layers of mud from their home, clean up strewn debris, and take out soiled flooring and walls—all in Jesus’ Name.
Serving West Virginia in Jesus’ Name
Just days into our response, local homeowners are already experiencing the love of God through the work and witness of our volunteers.
“Samaritan’s Purse is God-sent,” said Jeff Hewitt, a homeowner in Ohio County whose house flooded in the storm. He and his wife, Mary, were home when he saw a “wall of water” about five feet high barrel down the hill toward them. The couple escaped up the stairs just before the floodwaters rose above the porch steps and into the ground floor of the home.
Our army of dedicated volunteers arrived just days later to help the Hewitts recover. They quickly got to work shoveling layers of mud from the house, cleaning up the strewn debris in the yard, salvaging belongings, and removing waterlogged flooring and walls.
“I’ve been saying it every day, I felt a sense of relief when you guys showed up and started to tell us what you could do for us,” Jeff said. “I’m at a point in my life where I am jaded because of the world we live in nowadays. But you guys have restored how I see humanity—I look at people totally different now. There’s good people still out there.”
After the job was complete, volunteers gifted the Hewitts a special Billy Graham Training Center Bible with handwritten notes of encouragement from each of the volunteers who worked on their home.
With mud-stained orange shirts, the Samaritan’s Purse volunteers gathered around the hurting couple after the work was completed to pray with them and remind them of God’s love and peace, even amid life’s storms.
“I’ve felt a sense of calm inside that I haven’t since the day the storm hit,” Jeff said. “It’s just felt like a weight was lifted.”
Please pray for this area of northern West Virginia—that residents would experience peace and hope and the love of Jesus Christ as they begin a long recovery. For additional information on volunteer opportunities, visit spvolunteer.org.
