By Michael Ireland
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
BOONE, N.C. (ANS) -- Weeks after record flooding that damaged more than 4,000 homes in Minot, N.D., the Souris River has finally receded enough for residents to start returning to their waterlogged houses.
The international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse arrived in Minot this week with its Disaster Relief Units and will start sending out volunteer teams this weekend.
According to a media release, Samaritan's Purse has already received more than 500 requests for help in the Minot area. Volunteers with the organization are trained, organized into teams and then sent to flood-damaged homes to help clean out mud and debris and disinfect areas affected by mold or other contaminants. They will also help homeowners sort through and salvage what's left of their belongings.
"It's a big job for our teams," said Tommy Belisario, the Samaritan's Purse response manager in Minot. "They go into a house, remove the furniture, pull out floor coverings, take out the appliances, pump water out of basements, and treat the house for mold. People here have been through so much, and we want them to be able to get back into their homes as quickly as possible."
More volunteers are still needed. If you would like to join the Samaritan's Purse flood relief efforts in Minot or make a donation, visit www.samaritanspurse.org or call (800) 528-1980.
Since Samaritan's Purse set up the original U.S. Disaster Relief Unit in 1998, the organization has worked in 28 states and more than 100 locations. Recent relief efforts include repairing houses hit by tornadoes in Missouri, Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia, and cleaning homes of mud and debris after flooding in New Jersey. Samaritan's Purse has helped more than 19,000 families and homeowners recover and mobilized more than 35,000 volunteers.
Samaritan's Purse is an international Christian relief organization headed by Franklin Graham that provides immediate, no-red-tape response to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situation - especially in locations where few others are working. Samaritan's Purse has worked in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution.
| ** Michael Ireland is Senior Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior Reporter |
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