VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Preparing for disasters is what Operation Blessing in Virginia Beach does.
Loading chainsaws and tarps is routine, but once they arrive, no two missions are alike — and looking at Laura ripping through Louisiana, they have no idea what to expect.
“You could definitely feel the tension mounting as we were going down the highway. We passed several convoys of professional-grade contractor trucks for tree removal. We saw a caravan of FEMA vans and trucks,” Operation Blessing Deployment Manager, Blake Mueller told WAVY.
He is part of a three-person team that will go in and assess the damage. Depending on what they find, the assessment team will send for more supplies, a mobile kitchen and mobilize their mass of volunteers.
“Sometimes when these big disasters happen, people just want to be heard because they can be easily overlooked by the scale and the statistics that come with a hurricane and a tornado and things like that. So, that’s the first thing we’re going to do with people down here. We’re just going to hear their story and see how they’re doing,” Mueller said.
They expect to do a lot of mucking and gutting of flooded homes and tarping where ferocious winds ripped off roofs. They’ve connected with several churches in Lake Charles and Lafayette where Mueller said, unfortunately, they’ve worked before.
“A lot of the same regions are getting hit, so we’ve been able to maintain these relationships over the years.”
It’s these relationships and the faces of the families, he said, that always stay with them.
“And that’s really what drives our team at Operation Blessing is really getting down and dirty with the people of the community that has been hit the hardest and serving them.”
The team plans to roll into the hardest-hit areas no later than Friday morning.
If you would like to help them with a donation or by volunteering visit Operation Blessing.