An elderly Virginia couple who nearly died in Hurricane Helen has rebuilt the home by a group of volunteers and nonprofits, making it one of many homes to be rebuilt for storm victims.
Carl and Linda McMurray’s new home, built by Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS), was celebrated Friday in the company of local leaders at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, including Gov. Glenn Youngkin and R-VA Rep. Morgan Griffith.
The overall project to rebuild victims’ homes is expected to cost about $1.4 million. Funding comes from a mix of public and private resources including Washington County, Damascus Town, United Road, individual donors and private foundations.
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Governor Glenn Youngkin joined the couple’s new home ribbon cutting ceremony after Hurricane Helen was destroyed. (The office of Governor Glenn Youngkin)
The couple was forced to take refuge on the second floor and wear life jackets when floods ripped apart McMurray's home last October. The house began to collapse, and Carl was swept down by heavy rain before eventually clinging to a tree for hours until he was discovered by a neighbor and rescued by a helicopter nearly four hours later.
Meanwhile, Linda was trapped alone on the remaining second floor of the house, looking at the light of her watch, and seeing it keeps warm with the Afghan blanket.
She said, “I have been praying all night, repeating the Lord’s prayer and Psalm 23.”
She was rescued 16 hours later. The couple has been married for 57 years and thinks the other couple has lost the flood until they reunited.
"There are still many families who need to have the same sense of opportunities and choices as Linda and Carl today," Youngkin said in his speech.
"There are heroes everywhere, that's the moment when we need heroes," said Yangjin. "The number of rescues is shocking, and this is Amen's words."
"I don't know if the other party survived, but when Linda finally walked into Carl's ward, their prayers were answered."
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Residents of Dandridge, Tennessee described the direct consequences of Hurricane Helen as "stomach pain." One resident said the debris were too thick and she felt she could “walk on the water.” (Gill Cody)
MDS offers free labor and thousands of volunteer hours to build McMurrays’ new home. Its Amish rival Storm Aid sends skilled workers to assist the scene every week. Volunteers often spin a week at a time, address multiple homes and provide expertise in everything from rooftops to frames.
Youngkin's office says the construction costs per home are about $130,000. Homeowners are asked to provide about 10% of their Federal Emergency Administration (FEMA) disaster assistance – between $11,000 and $12,000. The rest is covered by the restored trail, which is a nonprofit organization that is rebuilt. They pay for materials, coordinate transactions such as pipelines and electrical, and work directly with MDS to maintain construction as planned.
A full-time MDS project manager is on site for weeks at a time to keep things going.
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Governor Glenn Youngkin joined Hurricane Helen survivors for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at his new home. (The office of Governor Glenn Youngkin)
Hurricane Helen is a 4-class storm that hit the Gulf Coast in late September 2024, causing extensive damage in southwestern Virginia, especially in Grayson, Smith, Tazwell, Washington, Wise and White counties, and the city of Caraxe.
The storm caused the closure of hundreds of roads and bridges, leaving many isolated in towns. Nearly 310,000 Virginians reportedly lost power, 3,700 farms were affected, causing more than $630 million in losses.
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After devastating, Youngkin established the offices of Helene Recovery and Repuilding to coordinate state and federal recovery efforts. The office is led by Chief Transformation Officer Rob Ward.
Virginia has not received $4.4 billion in federal funds that Youngkin recovered from the disaster in November. In January, Vice President JD Vance traveled to Damascus, a small town on the southwestern edge of the state, one of the hardest hit areas and criticized the previous government's response to the disaster.
“The efforts of local governments, state governments are doing their best, local communities, nonprofits and churches are working at an amazing rate, but you have the federal government there, the largest institution, the largest monetary institution, and that doesn’t do the job. It just drives us to do better.
Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin contributed to the report.