Hurricane Debby unleashed heavy rains and winds from Aug. 4-8, initially landing as a Category 1 hurricane in northern Florida and making its way up the East Coast as an intense tropical storm. Debby dumped historic amounts of precipitation, leading to widespread flooding that killed eight people. In response, Samaritan’s Purse has deployed to Savannah,…
Firefighter Receives Camper from Samaritan’s Purse
Howard and Lisa Ray’s mobile home was torn from its fastenings as several inches of water turned into a raging torrent in a matter of minutes, when Hurricane Helene swept through their Yancey County property in late September. Everything went by in a flash. Their home was bobbing through newly-formed rapids, and they surged forward…
New Home Filled with Praises in Buncombe County
Ronnie and Ginny Meadows’ mobile home in western North Carolina, was washed away by Hurricane Helene. It was the only home they had lived in during their married life—49 years and still counting. “We’ve been flooded a hundred times,” Ronnie said, noting that their former home stood on the street where he grew up. “But…
Blue Ridge Resident Moves Into New Home
Joe Sherwood had never experienced a disaster like Hurricane Helene, which ripped up his hometown of Vilas, North Carolina –a small town tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The powerful storm left the home he had built over five decades earlier in ruins. What began as a peaceful morning playing checkers on his iPad…
Seeing the Valleys from the Mountaintop
A little over a year after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, hope is being rebuilt one home at a time. Samaritan’s Purse Chief Operating Officer Edward Graham stood atop the mountain where Vanessa Bowens had played as a child, praying one day she’d live in a home looking down over the…
Samaritan’s Purse Dedicates New Home to North Carolina Resident
Brian Baker’s simple lifestyle surrounded by woodland solitude in western North Carolina was suddenly interrupted when aggressive wind and rain began pounding his tent walls. His home of 15 years–a traditional yurt measuring 27 feet in diameter–was not built to withstand wind speeds of over 100 mph. “I have experienced a couple of major floods,…











