VIRGINIA – When Marsha was trapped by Isaias–which knocked a tree across her driveway–she knew just who to call. And you sent the disaster relief help she needed!
Tropical Storm Isaias Leaves Trail of Damage
The night before Tropical Storm Isaias tore through Virginia, Marsha, a senior from Suffolk, was up most of the night. She nervously kept her eyes fixed on the local news. She heard talk of tornadoes unexpectedly forming and she wanted to be prepared. But as the night wore on, she got too tired.
Finally, at about 4:30 am, Marsha reluctantly succumbed to a restless sleep. When she woke up a little later, she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. “I looked out and things were blowing like crazy. I’ve been through storms and hurricanes, but I’ve never seen it blow that hard,” Marsha said.
Stuck at Home Needing Help
Thankfully, when the storm finally passed both Marsha and her house were safe. But it blew a tree across her driveway. Marsha lives by herself and never had to deal with a situation like this before. To make matters worse, she has an auto immune disease called polymyalgia rheumatica which makes her injury prone. One false move and she can be bed ridden for months. She also has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma stage 4 and uses a cane to walk.
Marsha considers herself a tough woman and she does her best, but sometimes she loses her balance even with a cane. It’s hard for her to get around under normal circumstances but with a tree down in front of her door she felt trapped by Isaias.
“The whole day I wondered, ‘What do I do?’” Marsha said, “I got panicky. How am I going to get groceries?”
Operation Blessing Sends Disaster Relief After Isaias
That’s when Marsha remembered Operation Blessing. She had heard about us because of our Snow Buddies response a couple years ago. That’s a program through which we help senior citizens get out of their houses when winter storms snow them in.
“I thought, ‘Oh, I bet they could help me,’” Marsha said, “So I called them up and it all happened so fast. I’m so grateful and so glad!”
We brought chainsaws to cut the tree into manageable pieces and a truck to haul it away. In a few short hours that tree was gone, and Marsha could get out of her house again.
Elderly Woman Helped by Operation Blessing
“If it weren’t for you, I don’t know how long I’d be in this house,” Marsha said, “I had all these feelings, but I didn’t know how to express them. You prayed with me and those feelings subsided. I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am.”
Thank you so much to the donors and sponsors of Operation Blessing who make it possible for us to help people just like Marsha in their time of need. It’s because of you that we’re able to help people all around the world, and right here in Virginia.
