Homeowners in southwest Florida who are continuing to grapple with the devastation or loss of their homes have been appealing in growing numbers for help from Samaritan's Purse, Fox News Digital is told by the organization.
Samaritan’s Purse, as of late Friday night, received more than 2,270 requests for help in just seven days, the organization shared with Fox News Digital.
The North Carolina-based international Christian relief and evangelism organization had already mobilized 1,100 volunteers from 26 states.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM TRAVELING TO SOUTHWEST FLORIDA TO HELP VICTIMS OF HURRICANE IAN
"And we have another 2,900 volunteers on the way," the organization told Fox News Digital via email late Friday night.
"How are you holding up?" Rev. Franklin Graham, CEO and president of Samaritan's Purse and of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, asked a Florida widow on Thursday, Oct. 6.
She escaped the floodwaters from Hurricane Ian by climbing into her attic.
"Minute by minute — I guess seconds at a time," the woman replied.
She rode out the storm for six hours in her attic, Samaritan's Purse learned and shared with Fox News Digital.
The wind tossed so much insulation around that her attic looked like a snowstorm.
Samaritan's Purse has been responding to Hurricane Ian's destruction in three separate locations in southwest Florida: Fort Myers, Englewood and Punta Gorda.
Said Rev. Graham while on the ground in Florida, "It's tough when you see people who have worked hard all their life and then lose everything they own."
He added, "Their memories, their furniture, their history, their livelihood — it's all gone and piled up on the street. It breaks your heart."
He also said, "What encourages you is seeing an army of volunteers at work. This is what God has called us to do."
Added Graham, "I want people to know that God hasn't forgotten them."
He said, "We all have storms in life and we need an anchor that we can hold onto and that anchor is Jesus Christ."
Hurricane Ian made landfall in south Florida last week as a category 4 hurricane — causing scores of people to lose everything.
HURRICANE IAN DISASTER RELIEF: WAYS TO DONATE AS THE DEATH TOLL MOUNTS
After it weakened, a restrengthened Hurricane Ian then made landfall as a category 1 over South Carolina last Friday.
Storm surge warnings and coastal flood warning remained in effect for much of the Atlantic coast.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
At least 132 people have perished as a result of the storm, according to local officials.
