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'Like the Cavalry': Operation Blessing Races in to Help Woman Hospitalized by Mold from Hurricane Florence

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When Julia McGriff returned to New Bern, North Carolina, after Hurricane Florence, she didn't realize how much damage had been done to her home.

"My thought was my house has survived, I could mop up the floors, I could wash down things and I could stay here," McGriff tells CBN.

But she couldn't. The 2-3 feet of flood water had ruined almost everything she owned.

"The refrigerator, the stove, my deep freezer, it stopped working completely. Drywall has to be removed, cabinets has to be removed, the bottom cabinets. I was looking at things that I thought I could keep and come to find out, you know, even if it dried out, the mold would still be there," she said.

McGriff salvaged a few things and put them in storage. After just a few days, the mold actually landed Julia in the hospital with breathing trouble.  

"I just wanted to holler, and scream," she recalls.

When she heard about Operation Blessing's disaster relief efforts and a team was sent out to help, things started to change.

"Like the cavalry, they come in ready to work and they did," she said.

The Operation Blessing team moved cabinets, took out drywall, and got everything ready for McGriff's house to be dried out so she can eventually move back home without worrying about mold or breathing problems.

"It's like… kind of like a burden's been lifted. It just gave me relief, gave me some relief and happiness because things are on the way to getting back on track," she said.

McGriff wants to make sure others get the same help she got..

"Continue your donations because it is really needed to keep Operation Blessing working because they don't only do this for us, they do it for every disaster and the people that's in the disaster really needs that. Thank you all and thank God for you," she says.

 

 

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About The Author

Dan Reany
Dan
Reany

Daniel Reany works with domestic and international producers to share stories of God’s love changing people’s lives. His main focus is on CBN’s humanitarian work. He holds an MA in anthropology, and volunteers with the Order of St. John. In their spare time, he and his wife enjoy travel, medieval reenactments, and hosting events.