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<\/source><\/picture>Hundreds of Samaritan’s Purse volunteers have signed up to help victims of Hurricane Idalia as Florida residents continue to assess the damage unleashed by the storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hurricane Idalia<\/a> made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds estimated at 125 miles per hour. The Saffir-Simpson Scale<\/a> defines a Category 3 storm as one with maximum sustained winds ranging from 111-129 miles per hour, noting that such winds can cause \u201cdevastating damage.\u201d<\/p>\n As it has in past natural disasters, the Christian humanitarian aid organization has deployed to the areas hardest hit by the storm. Currently, Samaritan\u2019s Purse teams are on the ground in Taylor and Pasco Counties.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGod always brings us people because we\u2019ll stay there sometimes for years doing rebuilds afterward, and we use volunteers for that,\u201d said Edward Graham, chief operations officer for Samaritan\u2019s Purse, in an interview with The Christian Post. \u201cGod\u2019s given us what we need to be able to respond.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Graham estimates that 40 volunteers are already on the ground in Perry, Florida, one of the areas hardest hit by the storm. \u201cWe have hundreds that have already signed up on our website and will continue to, but we always ask for more volunteers because we will be there for a while, for the next several weeks and months cleaning up.\u201d<\/p>\n Samaritan\u2019s Purse volunteers will help residents in Florida\u2019s largely rural Big Bend region by repairing the flood and wind damage to homes caused by the storm. \u201cSo we have a lot of debris to remove and a lot of mud outs, a lot of mucking of homes, cutting out the drywall, drying them out for these homeowners,\u201d Graham added.<\/p>\n Graham\u2019s father, the Rev. Franklin Graham, detailed the \u201cmud out\u201d process in a previous interview<\/a> with The Christian Post conducted in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian last year: \u201cYou have to take the sheetrock off the wall so that air can get through the studs and then electrical wiring is going to have to be replaced, especially those sockets that got soaked in saltwater, those wires are going to have to be pulled out.\u201d<\/p>\n As the younger Graham explained in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, homes sustained damage from \u201chigh water coming in and then taking a while to recede after the storm surge that comes in. The saltwater makes it even more difficult to deal with,\u201d he added, describing the \u201cmud out\u201d process as \u201chard work\u201d and \u201cdirty work\u201d made even more daunting by the \u201chot and humid\u201d weather.<\/p>\n \u201cOur volunteers will be in Tyvek suits and a mask to help protect them from the mold. So that\u2019s just very hard, gruesome work that we do to love our neighbors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Graham told CP that Samaritan\u2019s Purse is also assessing the damage in other parts of the country that Hurricane Idalia passed through, specifically Georgia and South Carolina. He predicted that most of the organization’s efforts would remain focused on Florida, which experienced \u201cheavy damage\u201d as a result of the storm.<\/p>\n In addition to working to help people repair their homes, Samaritan\u2019s Purse partners with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to send rapid response chaplains to \u201chelp share hope in Christ\u201d with hurricane victims as Samaritan\u2019s Purse volunteers help them with the cleanup process.\u00a0<\/p>\n Insisting that God is \u201chere in the midst of the storm,\u201d Graham praised the organizations\u2019 joint efforts \u201cto love people in the ditches of the world, to let them know that Jesus hasn\u2019t forsaken them, hasn\u2019t forgotten them and that God entrusts us with these resources and the volunteers to go help these people that are in the ditches of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Samaritan\u2019s Purse volunteers stay at local churches as they work to help \u201cget families back to a sense of normalcy\u201d following natural disasters, while the churches \u201ccollect food and distribute it to those in need.\u201d As they help Hurricane Idalia victims rebuild their homes and their lives, Samaritan\u2019s Purse volunteers will be staying at Calvary Baptist Church in Perry and Living Word Church in New Port Richey, Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/15\/01\/150184_w_760_507.webp\")
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