Operation Blessing Aids Retired Officer After Hurricane

Hurricane Helene has become one of the most destructive storms in US history. It struck three states hard…including Georgia. 

“We've been here for five years,” Josh Ellwood told us. “And up until this past week, it was quite quiet. Hurricane Helene, did a number on our house.”

Thankfully no one in Josh’s family was injured, but downed trees were everywhere, including some that landed on the roof of his house.   “Pretty significant. It was it was it was unpleasant,” he added.

Josh is a retired police officer.  His wife was in the hospital when the hurricane hit.  That’s made thinking about cleanup extra challenging. “There's a certain amount of emotional turmoil that something like this takes on you,” as he thought about caring for his wife and the damage on the property.

That’s when Operation Blessing’s Disaster Relief team provided some help.  First, we paid a contractor to cut and remove downed trees and branches.  They were assisted in the process by a team of Operation Blessing volunteers.  Then they cleared the roof  and temporarily patched it until more permanent repairs can be made.

“It's hard to even quantify all that they’ve done for me.  In this one short day, they come out and cleared the debris. They cleared the trees from the top of my house and secured tarps over the holes and damage. The large trees that were down in the yard have been cleared. They've helped stack the debris. It's just a humongous amount of support that I honestly wasn't prepared to receive. And, I am so very grateful for it,” said Josh.

Then as the day ended, we took a minute to pray for Josh and his wife who was still in the hospital on the day we cleaned up.  

“Operation Blessing has truly changed the aftermath of this storm for me,” he added.

“Thank you for changing our lives and allowing us to move forward and recover from this storm. And to those who helped, please keep donating and as soon as I am able I will join you!