Reverend Franklin Graham has delivered humanitarian aid to all corners of the globe with Samaritan's Purse, the organization for which he is president and CEO.
But on Tuesday, he was in his own backyard helping relief efforts in western North Carolina, which has been utterly devastated by Hurricane Helene. Graham told Newsmax he's never seen such destruction in some 40 years of living in the area.
Graham said on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" that Buncombe County "has just been devastated. This is where I grew up, near my father's home."
Graham said, "I'm without power, and so much of our state is without power up here in these mountains. And, and when you look at the damage, it's, you just wonder how anybody survived. And yes, they're, they estimate that the death toll could maybe climb as high as 1,000. I hope that's not the case, but I think we're getting ready for it just in case it is."
Graham went on to explain some of the efforts he and his army of 900 volunteers have undertaken in the past 48 hours. He said, "We've been able to rescue a lot of people.
"We've got our helicopter rescuing people, delivering food and water. Also, we set up an emergency field hospital in Banner Elk, North Carolina, the local hospital there. They needed an emergency room set up and so that's what we've done."
Graham said cleanup and recovery is going to be a long haul. "We're going to need volunteers for months to come," he said.
"We need day volunteers. Volunteers who can come in for the day and work, and come back the next day. We don't have housing for all these people, but we just certainly need people to show up and be willing to just pick up trash and mud out of homes, put a tarp on a roof. So much we can do."
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