CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 27, 2020 – With equipment and chaplains on stand-by before Hurricane Laura made landfall, the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) has chaplains already en route to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to provide emotional and spiritual care alongside Samaritan’s Purse to all of those impacted by the storm.
Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, battering the Gulf of Mexico early Thursday morning. Winds peaked at 150 mph, with Lake Charles taking a direct hit from the storm.
“With the scope of this storm, we are thankful that the overall damage was not worse than what the initial reports are showing,” said Jack Munday, international director of the RRT. “We know that even beyond the physical damage, the emotional toll that a storm like this takes is significant and our crisis-trained chaplains will be there to share the peace and hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ.”
Other current RRT responses include Cedar Rapids and Tama County, Iowa (storms), Napa, California (wildfires) and Kenosha, Wisconsin (civil unrest).
For more information on the ministry, including videos, photos, news articles and an interactive map of former and current deployments, visit BillyGraham.org/RRT. Updates can also be found at Facebook.com/RRTChaplains.
About the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team:
The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team was developed by Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has since grown into an international network of chaplains in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia who are specifically trained to deal with crisis situations. They have deployed to more than 450 disaster sites across the globe, including shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.
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