SW News: As many as 80 tornadoes have ripped through the United States since March 31, killing at least 32 people, prompting Christian organizations like Samaritan's Purse and Convoy of Hope to send disaster relief teams to assist the survivors.
Samaritan's Purse said that it has sent personnel to the region and organized a disaster response unit out of its Southwest Outreach Centre in Texas. One of the unit's tractor-trailers, loaded with essential supplies and tools, arrived early on Sunday, and the unit has been transporting it since then.
The Evangelical Relief Agency has reported that teams of volunteers have already begun tarping roofs, removing dead trees, and digging through debris in Arkansas in an effort to assist locals in recovering usable items.
Samaritan's Purse was analyzing the needs of additional storm-affected areas in the South and Midwest. As heavy storms hammered the eastern United States on two consecutive weekends, the group worked in Amory in eastern Mississippi and Rolling Fork/Silver City in western Mississippi.
Another Christian organization, Convoy of Hope, has sent out several teams to different parts of the state of Arkansas. Vehicles with food, water, and relief supplies are on their way to numerous sites in Arkansas, and the organization has stated that team members are in the greater Little Rock area and another has been deployed to Wynne, Arkansas.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Samaritan's Purse president Franklin Graham shared photos of volunteers helping out in Little Rock and asked for prayers for those who had lost loved ones, homes, and businesses in the tragedy.
However, during a press conference on Saturday, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. of Little Rock stated they spoke with President Joe Biden, who offered federal assistance.