We are helping homeowners clean up after the storm battered the Sunshine State.
Samaritan’s Purse has two teams in Florida to help families in hard-hit Naples and Fort Myers recover from Hurricane Irma. Our volunteers will come alongside distressed homeowners in the Name of Jesus Christ—chainsawing trees, tarping roofs, and performing mud-outs.
First Baptist Church, located at 3000 Orange Blossom Drive, is our host church in Naples. Our base of operations in Fort Myers is McGregor Baptist Church, located at 3750 Colonial Boulevard.
“My prayers are with the many who have seen their homes and businesses devastated by Irma’s wind and water. They will now be facing an overwhelming clean-up,” said Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham. “I pray especially for those who have lost loved ones in the storm. I know they would appreciate your prayers as well.”
“My prayers are with the many who have seen their homes and businesses devastated by Irma’s wind and water.”
—Franklin Graham
Millions of people in Florida—the country’s third most populous state—remain without power.
After Irma ripped through the Caribbean—killing 36 people and obliterating island after island as one of the most powerful Atlantic Ocean storms in recorded history—it smashed into the Florida Keys on Sept. 10 as a Category 4 storm. Losing just a little steam to a Category 3, it made a second landfall that afternoon on Marco Island, near Naples on the Gulf Coast.
The storm barreled north, spawning tornadoes. It was wide enough to churn up both coastlines at the same time with rain, wind, and storm surge. Power lines were downed, trees uprooted, and in Miami, streets turned into raging rivers of floodwaters.
According to reports, at least 26 people have died in Florida due to Irma, including two police officers. Six million people heeded evacuation orders before Irma struck.
In addition to our work in Florida, Samaritan’s Purse is sending relief supplies to hard-hit islands of the Caribbean. Via multiple flights by our DC-8 plane, we have already sent food, blankets, shelter plastic, hygiene kits, and water purification units to St. Martin for thousands of families. We have more than 20 staff members on the ground there. More airlifts are on their way soon as we expand our response to Antigua and Barbuda.
