U.S Disaster Relief teams are now in Central New Mexico where multiple wildfires have consumed over 25,000 acres and, sadly, left two people dead. We are focusing our efforts on the town of Ruidoso, located between the Salt and South Fork fires. The latter alone has devastated 17,000 acres and 1,400 structures, over half of…
Volunteers Serving in Storm-Battered Mississippi
Under a cloudless blue sky in Soso, Mississippi, Samaritan’s Purse volunteer Randy Graves crawled over and under downed pine trees searching for valuables. At the request of the homeowners, Graves and other volunteers carefully sorted through strewn belongings. They were on the hunt for photo albums, Bibles, jewelry, and a valuable collection of coins. They…
Edward Graham anima a los habitantes de Nueva York después de la inundación
Not in 40 years had Dexter Bunte seen such devastation in his community of Highland Falls, New York. Until July 9 the stream that ran by his house was merely a harmless feature adding to the area’s quaint beauty. “It was a babbling brook. My kids used to get excited when it would rise a…
Rebuilding in Hooper Bay
The 2006 fire that blazed through most of Hooper Bay, Alaska, started in a school and then burned down homes and buildings as wind swept the flames across the community. Dozens of families were left homeless, and the harsh Alaska winter was only weeks away. “We only had two months left in the year that…
Un hogar nuevo y una fe fortalecida
Instantly, Jacqueline Crump lost everything. A series of more than 30 tornadoes ripped through much of central Mississippi near the end of March, leveling homes and taking 26 lives. Jacqueline’s home in Amory stood helplessly in the way of one of these powerful twisters, an EF3 category tornado with wind speeds upwards of 135 mph.…
Samaritan’s Purse Dedicates Two Mobile Homes in Mississippi
An EF4 tornado zeroed in on John Hatcher’s brick home in Wren, Mississippi, on March 24. John, his wife, Leighlynn, and their two daughters were fast asleep. But the thundering roar of the twister woke John up. He quickly rushed down the hall to protect his children. “I dove in a bedroom at the end…
Tornado Survivors Grateful for God’s Protection
Coella and Manley Tate hid in the bathtub as a tornado hit their Bertie County home of more than 20 years. They prayed for God’s protection and said ‘I love you’ for what they believed would be the last time. The EF-3 tornado ravaged their home at 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 4. Though a similar…
La vida de un residente de Florida se transforma después de la tormenta
On Wednesday, April 12, historic rainfall inundated the Fort Lauderdale area—turning streets into rivers and trapping families within their homes. A 93-year-old resident, Paul Peloquin, was one of the many people with no way to escape. Gerthel E. Smith, Paul’s caregiver, was with him for the duration of the storm. She shared, “It was raining,…
Samaritan’s Purse Responding to Wildfires in California and Oregon
Samaritan’s Purse is responding in California and Oregon as an ongoing rash of deadly fires has engulfed much of the West Coast, killing more than 30 people. Our staff and a Disaster Relief Unit—a tractor trailer filled with relief supplies and equipment—were deployed Sept. 12 from our West Coast Ministry Center in Fullerton, California, to…
Recuperando la esperanza en Spokane
Volunteers are hard at work in the aftermath of wildfires in eastern Washington state. The Gray Fire and Oregon Road Fire destroyed more than 350 homes in Spokane County, and as our teams sift through the ashes, they are reminding homeowners that God sees them and loves them. Samaritan’s Purse has been in eastern Washington…