Staff and volunteers are cutting up and removing downed trees.

Midwest Ice Storm

Volunteer teams are providing physical and spiritual help for people in Kentucky

Listen to a report from our staff in the field
The ice has melted from the massive winter storm that slammed the Midwest in late January, but many people still are struggling to recover.

“The ice storm broke the tops out of thousands of trees,” said Tom Mowbray, program manager for the Samaritan's Purse relief effort in Madisonville, Kentucky. “The scene looks much like artillery shells have burst and broken all of the branches. There is debris littered everywhere.”

The ice storm crippled states from Missouri to West Virginia, knocking out power to more than 1.3 million homes and businesses. In Kentucky, 101 counties and 75 cities were declared a state of emergency.

Samaritan's Purse sent a disaster relief team to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, on January 29. We recently moved to Madisonville, and will open a new site in Paducah, Kentucky, beginning March 1.

“We found there’s a large population of elderly, disabled, and disadvantaged people who desperately need our help,” Mowbray said. “We’re helping them come out of the trauma of the storm and get back to normal.”

Volunteers from across the country are working with our staff to cut up and removed downed trees and other debris. In some cases, we are removing carpet, sheetrock, furniture and other belongings from homes that sustained water damage when frozen pipes burst.

By serving in the Name of Jesus, the volunteer teams also are having an eternal impact.

“We are bringing practical support by clearing debris from their yard, and also spiritual support,” Mowbray said. “Many of these residents are just glad to have somebody to talk to, somebody to reassure them, and somebody to stand beside them.”

Over a one-week period, five of our teams working in conjunction with chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team led homeowners to faith in Christ.

“What a reassurance that despite all the places we could have responded to across the ice storm's path that we have been placed exactly where our Sovereign Lord wanted us,” said one of our staff members.

Among the new believers is a man from the Poplar Bluff area. A team from Pennsylvania worked on the house he shares with his elderly mother. After they completed the job, the volunteers prayed with the two homeowners and presented them with a Bible.

The woman remembered a time when she accepted Christ, but her son had no such memory. The team explained about God’s plan of salvation through faith in His Son, and the man said he wanted Jesus in his life.

“What an incredible day!” our staff member said.

WAYS YOU CAN HELP

PRAY:

For our staff and volunteers as they bring help and comfort to people impacted by the ice storm.

GIVE:

To help us respond whenever disaster strikes in the United States, please visit our donation page.

GET INVOLVED:

We are looking for volunteer teams and individuals with chainsaw experience and people who are willing to clear debris from homes. Click here to sign up.