A Race Against Time to Repair Devastating Storm Damage

When Phillip and his wife Lauren were just weeks away from the birth of their second child, a hurricane hit Louisiana. 

Phillip said, “No one was expecting it to strengthen the way it did, but when we saw on the news that it was supposed to be a Cat 4 sitting over Thibodaux, Cat 4 coming through Houma, we had to make the decision to run. We stayed in Lake Charles for two days ‘cause we weren’t going to be allowed back in. So, it was just a waiting game of not knowing what you were coming back to.”

When they got home, they were devastated to see large trees down in their yard and a roof missing a lot of shingles. Phillip and his dad struggled to do the work themselves.

“My wife, she’s due in two weeks, and, with this storm, trying to get the house ready, it’s gonna be rough for a while ‘cause everybody else is going through so much. So, it’s really hard to ask somebody for help when they have their own thing that they’re trying to take care of at their house,” said Phillip.

That’s when Operation Blessing arrived. We removed the downed trees and tarped the roof. Insurance will cover the repairs, but until roofers can come out, the tarp will protect the home from further damage. 

“I think Operation Blessing is an amazing, amazing thing,” said Phillip. “They showed up and they got straight to work helping with everything that they could. The stress that’s been relieved from the extra help is, it’s unreal. It puts your mind at ease knowing that somebody’s there to help you. The amount of work they’re putting in out here, it’s insane. They’re really helping us in a tight spot.”

They had the baby, and because of the help of Operation Blessing, when they left the hospital, Phillip and Lauren were able to take their baby home.

Phillip said, “I wanna thank Operation Blessing and everyone that is partnered with them for all the help. Words really can’t say how thankful I am for ya’ll coming out here and helping us right now.”