Samaritan’s Purse assists in flood recovery efforts

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - It’s been just over a week since substantial floods wreaked havoc on the Lake Area, leaving many people back at square one when it comes to repairs on their house.

Like so many, the Williams family just wanted to sleep in their own bed in their own home after Hurricane Laura.

Just as they were able to do that, the same nightmare happened again with last week’s flooding.

“It had never flooded here before, so when she said there’s water coming in, I went and got a towel and put it down, and that wasn’t enough, so I went for the second one, and when I turned around, my whole living room was underwater,” said Melvin Williams.

Just two weeks before the historic flooding, Melvin and Sharon Williams put the final pieces of their home back together after hurricane damage.

“You question yourself like, ‘What did I do?’ You know, Lake Charles needs a break,” Williams said.

They would soon receive that break.

“I saw a yellow shirt from Samaritan’s Purse, and I knew that we had help on the way,” Williams said.

Program Manager for Samaritan’s Purse Kristen Holben says she is honored to serve the Williams family in their time of need.

“It’s been really devastating for them, but it certainly is our privilege to come back and help them through this,” Holben said.

“You know, it feels really good that people from all over the United States care enough to volunteer their time to help me. It’s such a great feeling,” Williams said.

The mission of Samaritan’s Purse is to make sure that no one feels alone.

“We want to go out and certainly help physically. We want to help as best as we can, but we just really want people to know that they are loved by God,” Holben said. “We just want to share the hope of Christ with them, that even though in this world, there’s a lot of darkness, a lot of devastation, Jesus brings us light and hope. We just want to make sure that we share that with them.”

Williams says he is incredibly thankful for their hard work.

“It’s been a blessing and they’re working very hard. They don’t know how much this means to me.”

So far, Samaritan’s Purse has received 150 applications for people in the Lake Area in need of assistance, but they will continue to accept applications as long as there is a need.

More information about Samaritan’s Purse can be found here.

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