Elsa Oviedo hugged crisis-trained chaplain María Colón-Rivera, stepped back and smiled.
The young mother of two, standing in front of her flood-damaged home in Pinetops, North Carolina, had just prayed in Spanish to accept Jesus Christ.
“It’s such a joy when you see God touch a heart, and they come to Christ,” said María, a Spanish-speaking chaplain with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. “That’s the biggest joy.”
Elsa and her family are among those who have survived the devastating flooding that came in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. The storm has claimed two dozen lives so far in Eastern North Carolina alone as flood waters haven’t completely receded yet in many places.
Crisis-trained chaplains are offering emotional and spiritual care in Pinetops alongside sister ministry Samaritan’s Purse. On Friday, the chaplains visited with Elsa while the Samaritan’s Purse volunteers worked to clean debris from underneath her home.
Elsa spoke strongly about the flood, but couldn’t help the occasional tear from falling as she remembered the traumatic event. Last Saturday, she had been celebrating a family event at her home with roughly 60 loved ones. They moved the celebration up the street to her aunt’s house, and when the rain kept falling, she dashed back home with a few relatives to collect some personal items just in case. By the time Elsa made it out, water was rising fast around her home and the homes of her family nearby.
She made it back to higher ground—her aunt’s house—but they still had to be rescued by boat later that day.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen,” Elsa said. “All we knew was we were stuck in a big lake all around us. There was no way out.”
Pinetops, a little more than 1,300-people strong, is no stranger to flooding. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd inundated this area and many of those same Pinetops properties were drowned again, this time by Hurricane Matthew.
Mayor Steve Burress remarked that even through the second round of devastation, he was still impressed by the resiliency of his town. A local church, for instance, offered shelter to 125 displaced people in the midst of the flooding Saturday night. Volunteers have kept the people well-fed and the government-issued MREs—that is, prepackaged Meals Ready to Eat—have gone unopened.
Elsa and her family were among those who sought immediate refuge in the shelter. Now, they’re staying with family while they figure out next steps. The flood has been especially hard on Elsa’s 6-year-old daughter who was so upset when she saw an “X” spray-painted on the door of her home. This serves as a signal to first responders that everybody is out safe, but for the young girl it was just a reminder of the terrifying event.
“She kept crying,” Elsa remembered. “She said she missed her bed. She said she missed her home.”
Chaplain Daniel Almarode brought a Samaritan’s Purse stuffed animal for the child when he learned the young girl was having a hard time. He hoped the cuddly creature would bring a measure of comfort. Elsa, touched by the gesture, said she was grateful for the work of both the Samaritan’s Purse and chaplains.
Elsa said, “It’s in these things when people get closer and you see how good God is.”
