Local

Emergency supplies from Charlotte sent to Philippines

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than 100 tons of emergency supplies from right here in Charlotte are on their way to the Philippines.

Channel 9 cameras captured a huge 747 jet flying off with those supplies Friday. Local charity Samaritan's Purse is behind the effort.

The supplies are slated to arrive Saturday afternoon.

"You have to get the relief there when it's needed most," said Jim Walker, deputy international projects at Samaritan's Purse.

The charity sent people to the Philippines hours before the storm hit. Those people have been helping coordinate the transport of the supplies. The supplies include generators that will help restore power, thousands of blankets, and plastic sheets for shelters.

The plane is also loaded with six water filtration systems from a facility in South Carolina.

"Each can produce 10,000 gallons of fresh, clean water a day. Those will be operational in a few days," Walker said.

Jim Moore is also on the plane. He's been with Samaritan's Purse for 15 years. He'll use his expertise as a biomedical technician to help restore a hospital greatly damaged by the typhoon.

"There's no power the staff has left. They've asked me to go through and see what we can do to get this hospital back running," Moore said.

Once there, he will determine what other supplies the charity can ship in from the U.S. to help the hospital and hundreds of people in need of so much.

"We bring help, hope and the message that God loves them too," Walker said.

Samaritan's Purse also flew in a team of doctors and nurses earlier this week. It could remain in that region helping for several weeks.

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