October 16, 2025

Manuel, an elderly resident of South Sarasota County, lives in a trailer that is repeatedly impacted by hurricanes. His experience was no different with Hurricane Helene, the Category 4 storm that made landfall in September 2024 with 140mph winds, creating record-breaking rains and severe flooding across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas.

At an unmet needs assessment hosted by World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS), Manuel shared his Hurricane Helene experience with DRS volunteers. The wind strength from the hurricane had shaken the trailer, shifting the roof shingles. Rainfall began to enter through the leaking roof into Manuel’s living room, ruining various personal items—including his treasured baseball card collection.

As time went on, the trailer’s water damage also resulted in mold, posing dangerous health issues for Manuel. Living off a Social Security income, Manuel could not afford to repair these damages. Yet, because the Sarasota County Long-Term Recovery Group received information about his situation, Manuel trusted they were aware and ready to respond to his and the community’s Helene-related needs.

Multiple DRS volunteer teams provided clean-up services in Bluefield, West Virginia, helping the community remove some of the 1,000 trees downed by Hurricane Helene’s remnant winds.

Most volunteer teams worked on removing fallen trees in homeowners’ yards and in the community’s open spaces. But volunteers from Christ Memorial Church took on a more challenging job for Dawn, who still had a tree downed on her home’s roof six months after the storm.

Volunteers worked on a lift to rope off the tree, pull it down safely, and use a chainsaw to chop it into disposable pieces. After multiple days, the job was complete. Since this labour would have been costly through a contractor, Dawn is thankful she can safely reside in her home without the worry of tree damage or the financial burden any longer.

Hendersonville, North Carolina, is part of the Appalachian region that was hit hardest by Helene. Helene’s heavy rainfall washed out some of Hendersonville’s bridges and roads, downed many trees and power lines, and led to widespread flooding in homes and businesses.

One of those downed trees fell on Rob’s trailer. After days of unrelenting rainfall, the interior was extremely damaged. In time, Rob painfully realized there was no choice but for his entire home to be gutted. Amid a tragedy for Western North Carolina, this also created a personal crisis for Rob, who wondered how he would rebuild his life and home.

Thanks to our partner Baptists on Mission, DRS volunteers from Kelloggsville Church were able to play a role in Rob’s hurricane recovery. Nine months after the hurricane, some of the volunteer team hung new drywall throughout the trailer, installing new ceilings and walls in the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen.

After a difficult journey this past year, Rob counts the repairs to his home provided by Baptists on Mission as a true blessing in his life.

*All client names in the update have been changed for security purposes.