Crisis & Disaster Response
Hurricane Helene: Rebuilding Lives One Year Later
Hurricane Helene Rebuilding Lives One Year Later Recovery continues across western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee as Samaritan's Purse helps families rebuild after the devastating storm. When Benny Messer watched floodwaters sweep away his Waynesville, North Carolina, home last September, he couldn't imagine starting over. He and his wife, Keeva, had lived at the same…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Gifting Vehicles to Hurricane Helene Survivors
“It’s all yours! Congratulations, sir!” James Roberts could hardly believe the words spoken to him by an employee of Hendrick Automotive Group. Thanks to Samaritan’s Purse partnership with the Charlotte auto dealer, a 2024 Toyota Tacoma crew cab 4 x 4 is now his. It was just three months ago that the Marshall, North Carolina,…
Samaritan’s Purse Dedicates First Home in Hurricane Helene Rebuild
In the same front yard where Hurricane Helene’s floodwaters tore through their quiet western North Carolina neighborhood, Benny and Keeva Messer stood on June 2 praising God for a brand-new home built in Jesus’ Name, from the foundation below to the shingles above. “Today we are going to celebrate and rejoice,” said Luther Harrison, vice…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Edward Graham Dedicates Brand-New Bridge Rebuilt After Hurricane Helene
As Steve and Sharon Breitenstein watched the Watauga River rise in front of their home, higher than they’d seen in their time there, one thing was on their minds: Would the bridge hold? It had served as the only vehicle access on and off the property since Steve’s father built it in 1966. It was…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Blessed with a Home After Hurricane Helene
It took 16 months for Andrea Green to get back home, and the last six months were spent in a hotel in Mountain City, Tennessee, her hometown for nearly three decades. Andrea received a key from Samaritan’s Purse and walked astounded into a new mobile home where she looked forward to “sleeping in that big…
In Awe of God’s Goodness
When Hurricane Helene washed away Margaret’s mobile home in the mountains of western North Carolina nearly two years ago, she remembers, God was faithful to deliver her from the torrent of wind and rain. Though she lost everything, she continued to trust that He would provide. VOLUNTEER IN NORTH CAROLINA Margaret again experienced God’s love…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Bridging the Gap in the Wake of Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene damaged the bridge that Tina Palmer used every day to get to her Deep Gap, North Carolina, home on the other side of a creek. Since the September 2024 storm, she has been afraid to even walk over the faltering structure, much less drive across it. Samaritan’s Purse U.S. Disaster Relief recently came…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Love Arrives After the Storm
Among the ruined items Michael Dixon pulled out of his dresser—soaked certificates, destroyed books, precious photos—he discovered a small keychain. Holding it up to the sunlight streaming through his window, a smile crept onto his face. “Sevierville. 1991. Howard’s restaurant. Our honeymoon,” he said, gazing at the two-inch photo of him and his wife, Nancy,…
God’s Blessings in Hendersonville
Nearly four months have passed since Nancy Velazquez experienced the unimaginable—a deadly and catastrophic hurricane in the mountains. Nancy was away from her home the September morning that Hurricane Helene caused deadly flooding that swept through her community in Hendersonville, North Carolina. When she finally returned to her neighborhood, disbelief overcame her. She’d lost nearly…
Crisis & Disaster Response
An Orange Wave of Help Arrives for Swannanoa
Steve struggled to keep his pickup truck driving straight on a road he couldn’t see. When the evacuation alert had sounded just minutes earlier, he had woken his 15-year-old son Aiden, and the pair had dashed out of their house. Now they were fighting to find safety as the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene swallowed…
