Instead of heading to the beach in shorts and flip-flops, University of Connecticut students spent their spring break in Waynesville, North Carolina, donning work clothes and orange U.S. Disaster Relief T-shirts. They were rebuilding a home damaged by Hurricane Helene. “I wanted to do something that was productive and that was contributing to the Kingdom…
Hurricane Helene Survivor Praises God for Abundant Blessings
The water continued to rise and Sherri Hughes panicked. She was visiting her sister when they suddenly noticed that the floor was wet. Before long, it was soaked. “When we looked out the door, we saw nothing but water. I thought we were gonna die,” she said. She could see across the street to her…
New Home Blesses Couple Whose Lives Were Upended by Helene
Helene’s heavy rains poured on Mark and Mechelle Tipton’s Marshall, North Carolina, neighborhood, flooding their mobile home with up to 24 inches of water. They escaped through the back door and up the hill to safety. However, they lost many of their belongings—and their home—to last year’s historic storm. The nearby French Broad River flowed…
Health & Medical Ministries
Meeting Needs in a Medical Desert
For about two years now, Debbie King, a great-grandmother, hasn’t been able to get the right glasses to correct her declining eyesight. The Marshall, North Carolina, resident has been using her uncle’s glasses, and her vision has only gotten worse. Last week, though, she was amazed by how well she could see with the right…
Crisis & Disaster Response
New Home Surprises Homeowner
On Sept. 27, 2024, the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused untold destruction across western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. More than 100 individuals died in North Carolina alone. In addition, the storm left thousands of people homeless, including Thanh Bui of Swannanoa, a town just east of Asheville. Floodwaters forced her and her son, Quintin,…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Providing Aid to Typhoon Survivors in Vietnam
Samaritan’s Purse is on the ground in northwestern Vietnam after Typhoon Wipha struck the region in late July and continued to bring heavy rainfall into early August. We are also preparing to respond to Typhoon Kajiki as it recently made landfall in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital. This most recent storm claimed multiple lives and added to…
Samaritan’s Purse Rushes Aid to Typhoon Survivors in Vietnam
Samaritan’s Purse teams are on the ground rushing much-needed relief to storm-battered areas of north-central Vietnam in the wake of Typhoon Kajiki’s late August landfall. Kajiki is the second typhoon to hit the region in as many months. Whipping winds ripped apart houses while torrential rains pummeled the region, triggering flash floods and deadly landslides…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Rushing Supplies to Storm-Battered Vietnam
Rivers were already high and the ground was still soaked when Typhoon Bualoi recently lashed central Vietnam, leaving behind a deadly trail of destruction. The storm claimed dozens of lives, and hundreds of others were injured. The inundated soil gave way to deadly landslides across the region as well, washing away roads and homes altogether.…
Crisis & Disaster Response
More Aid Flows into Vietnam
Navigating flooded neighborhood streets aboard rafts, Samaritan’s Purse teams distributed critical supplies to families left stranded by Typhoon Matmo’s destruction in the far north of Vietnam. The typhoon, another in a series of tropical cyclones to strike the Southeast Asian country this year, flooded already inundated regions—triggering mass power outages and raging floods that tore…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Helping Southeast Asia after Deadly Typhoons
After back-to-back typhoons devastated regions of the Philippines and Vietnam, Samaritan’s Purse is on the ground at multiple locations in the two Southeast Asian nations distributing vital supplies to hurting families in Jesus’ Name. Typhoon Kalmaegi ripped apart homes and flattened trees as it tore through the central Philippines Nov. 4 as one of the…
