The most terrifying moment for Rosie Meadows as Hurricane Dorian pounded her family’s home in the Bahamas wasn’t when the window glass exploded or a giant funnel cloud of ocean water was headed straight for her door.
Rosie was most fearful when she heard the children crying and screaming. She and her husband Gerald had welcomed friends and neighbors to ride out the storm with them, and when the children cried out—asking if they were going to die—Rosie knew she had to hide her terror and be brave for them.
Rosie has lived on the Bahamas’ Abaco Island in the Marsh Harbour community for 12 years. After the hurricane passed, she and her neighbors came outside to view the impact—including badly damaged roofs, broken windows, and sometimes flattened homes.
Rosie and Gerald have received heavy-duty shelter plastic—one of more than 4,800 households to receive it so far from Samaritan’s Purse—that will help protect their home from more damage. Our disaster response teams have also been distributing electrical generators, solar lights, and hygiene kits in several communities.
An hour from Marsh Harbour is Coopers Town, where during the hurricane, many people sought protection at Faith Walk Church of God. Some had to stay for five days before the floodwaters receded, roads were cleared, and it was safe to go home.
“It’s a blessing,” Pastor Herbert Edgecombe, said of the shelter materials and electrical generators his community is receiving from Samaritan’s Purse. Coopers Town has no electricity, and no one knows when it will be restored.
Pastor Herbert’s congregation still gathered for worship on the Sunday after Dorian inflicted so much damage. Despite losing homes and personal belongings, people refused to live in defeat.
“The congregation came with praise,” Pastor Herbert said. “Besides God, there is no other. He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever.”
Pastor Herbert prays that, in the days to come, Faith Walk Church will grow closer to God and their passion to tell others about Him will increase more and more. He prays that they will be a living testimony to the mercy of the God who spared their lives: “I knew God would take us through the storm.”
Samaritan's Purse responds to the urgent needs of families devastated by the wind, rain, and storm surge of catastrophic hurricanes. Whether internationally or here in Canada, we bring emergency relief and practical help in the Name of Jesus Christ to hurting people.