Samaritan’s Purse teams are working in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
Justin and Amy Parlier had been awake nearly the entire night because of the rain and storms from Hurricane Helene that hit the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. They tried to get some sleep early Friday morning but received a call from Amy’s son that a tree had fallen and destroyed one of their cars, which wasn’t at their home. Amy said, “An hour later, I was in the living room and heard this big boom. It scared me to death. I come into the kitchen and looked out and just saw limbs up against all my windows.” A large oak from the back of their yard had fallen onto their house.
“I’ve experienced a lot of floods in this little area, but nothing to even touch this,” Justin said.
He is a caregiver for his 86-year-old mother who lives just up the road. Amy has some health issues, too. Justin said it would have taken him days to remove the tree from the roof and yard.
The couple had no electricity from Friday morning until Sunday evening—no way to contact anyone until power was restored. “It worried Justin to death. He’s just so drained,” Amy said. “We just didn’t know what we were going to do about this tree, and all of a sudden, here comes a knock at the door.”
Hundreds of volunteers are serving with Samaritan’s Purse in Watauga and neighboring counties.
A team of Samaritan’s Purse volunteers showed to help the Parliers early Monday afternoon. Among them was Colby Callaway, a junior at Appalachian State University who is from Elkin, North Carolina, a 90-minute drive from Boone. He could have stayed home but felt that he needed to be out helping where he could.
Although Colby has volunteered with other organizations, he had never volunteered at a site so soon after a disaster. He said he was impressed by both the urgent needs and by the responsiveness of our teams.
More than 800 people volunteered in Boone, North Carolina, and the surrounding area on Monday, serving in Jesus’ Name.
The team of 15 made quick work of the tree. It took only a couple hours to remove it from the roof and yard and stack the smaller branches by the road to be hauled away. Volunteers sang “Amazing Grace” and presented the Parliers with a Bible they had signed.
“This is amazing,” Justin said. Amy told the team, “You’ve lifted a heavy burden from us.”
“Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).
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In response to Hurricane Helene’s destructive path, Samaritan’s Purse is working in western North Carolina (Watauga and neighboring counties; Buncombe County [Asheville area]), eastern Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. We are also at work in California, Louisiana, and Texas following natural disasters there. Thank you for your prayers for our teams and especially for the many people affected by recent storms.
