On April 16, 2014 the Village of Sussex Corner declared a state of emergency due to severe flooding in southern New Brunswick. Ice jams and high water on area waterways damaged as many as 100 homes in the community of 1,500 people. According to residents, this is the worst flood they have experienced in recent memory.
“There are a lot of flooded streets and raging water,” said Stephen Joudry, Samaritan’s Purse’s Disaster Relief Regional Coordinator. “People are starting to pump out their basements and you see stuff out on front lawns. One of the worst hit areas included an RV business where brand new travel trailers were just floating around in the water.”
A total of 72 projects were completed, ranging from power washing and sanitization to complete gut-outs of fully finished basements. A total of 401 volunteers served 3,176 hours between April 21 and May 8.
Samaritan’s Purse partnered with Rapid Response Team Chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to help meet the emotional and spiritual needs of flood survivors and volunteers.
“We are very excited to have Samaritan’s Purse become part of our community recovery efforts,” Sussex Corner Mayor Steven Gillies had said. “We eagerly look forward to working together to restore our community and provide hope in a time of need.”
Help Samaritan’s Purse strengthen the impact of local churches in communities recovering in the aftermath of disasters. As caring Christians are trained and empowered to walk alongside individuals and families to find solutions to complex needs, God opens doors to share the Gospel.