The scars on Howard’s cheek and eyebrow still bear witness to the terror and pain of the morning Hurricane Helene struck. Those reminders will not soon fade, but, now, he and his family have a new marker of God’s faithfulness and grace on their lives: a mobile home provided by Samaritan’s Purse. On Tuesday, June…
Two Marias, One Almighty God
Separated by only 15 miles in the mountains of North Carolina, Maria Sixtos and Maria Chavez have both suffered in Helene’s wake—not only when the historic hurricane hit the area six months ago, but every moment since. For Maria Chavez, a stay-at-home mom, the storm’s damage to the family’s septic system created a daily nightmare…
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…
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…
Operation Christmas Child
Reminded of God’s Faithfulness after Helene
Letis Avila lifted her hands to the Lord in prayer as Hurricane Helene bore down on her western North Carolina home last September. Though the storm took a lot from the Salvadoran mother of two, Letis is still praising God today. Soon after the sky cleared and waters receded, two Samaritan’s Purse staff members arrived…
Crisis & Disaster Response
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…
Construction Projects
Home Again and Praising God in Burnsville
A mud slide caused severe damage to Max and Melanie Murphy’s mobile home when Hurricane Helene tore through their Burnsville, North Carolina, community. “We didn’t know what we were going to do,” Melanie said. She was encouraged when a Samaritan’s Purse team arrived to check on them and saw the destruction. “Before we knew it,…
Crisis & Disaster Response
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,…
Crisis & Disaster Response
God Makes a Way Home
The mountains of North Carolina still bear the scars of Hurricane Helene more than a year later. The bare forests of winter make the scars more visible. Downed trees, cratered mountainsides, and homes tattered or still buried in the debris flows and flooding of October 2024. That’s when Scott and Meta lost their home, in…
Serving Hurricane-Rocked Tampa
Dale and Tracey Wallace scrimped and saved for decades to buy their dream home on the harbor in Madeira Beach, Florida. They signed the papers and moved in 2013. “It was a year after I retired,” Dale said. “I don’t know how two retirees from county civil service could afford it, but she can squeeze…
