Samaritan's Purse volunteers keeping eye on Irma as it gains strength

BOONE, N.C. — Volunteers at Samaritan’s Purse in Boone are getting ready to head to the Caribbean and help those in need after Hurricane Irma barrels through the islands.

[HURRICANE TRACKER: Category 5 Irma bears down on Caribbean]

The international relief organization plans to have supplies flown down 24 hours after the storm hits. It usually sends small teams of three on the ground immediately after the storm hits in order to assess the need.

People inside the operations room at Samaritan’s Purse started watching Irma last week as it was forming. As winds reached over 180 mph, calls started going out to organize who will respond to the Caribbean islands in Irma’s path.

“We respond with shelter, clean water, food, we distribute non-food items, like blankets, to people who have been affected,” Brock Kreitzberg, with Samaritan’s Purse, said.

It was just last week that Channel 9 saw the relief organization send all five of its disaster response trucks out of North Wilkesboro to the devastation left behind by Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

Samaritan’s Purse officials said they could move some of the assets in Texas back to Florida, but what will more than likely happen is equipment and supplies will be sent down from Canada.

Kreitzberg said that depending on the damage Irma does to the U.S., storm resources can also be brought in from other countries.

“We have teams from all over the world. We can pull from Canada. We have 15 offices from around the world (from which) we can pull staff. So we can pull individuals from there as well,” Kreitzberg said.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:

• HURRICANE TRACKER: Irma strengthens to Cat 5; takes aim at Caribbean
• Letting kids sleep in could save U.S. $9 billion a year, study finds
• Boyfriend accused of killing UNCC professor now behind bars
• WATCH: Keith Monday's Tuesday forecast outlook
• Raleigh man who blames cold meds for stabbing wife to death faces judge
• 3 in critical condition after car plunges into river near Myrtle Beach

Cox Media Group