Standing in the snow on an eastern Kentucky mountaintop Friday, Rev. Franklin Graham dedicated 18 newly constructed homes in Jesus’ name to families who lost everything in the region’s catastrophic 2022 floods, a moment survivors described as the first real breath of relief they’ve had in three years.
“This is Franklin Graham,” he says in an exclusive video to Fox News Digital. “Terrible floods here a few years ago just destroyed hundreds of homes. Well, today we are dedicating 18 houses that are finished and ready for people to move in.”
The homes are part of the new Chestnut Ridge subdivision, a 57-lot neighborhood built from scratch by Samaritan’s Purse and an army of volunteers.
“We’re grateful to God,” Graham continues. “We couldn’t do this without the partners who provided land, the finances, the volunteers. These people are going to be in their homes for Christmas.”
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Rev. Franklin Graham shares a lighthearted moment with Paul Johnson, a home recipient who can now register for a lung transplant with a permanent address after years of being displaced from flooding. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
Flood survivor Lora Honycutt described the moment she stepped into her new house in a raw, unfiltered way captured on video.
“When I walk in this house here… the floors are not sinking,” Honeycutt said, wiping her eyes. “Even the smell is different… I can’t describe the feeling.”
She added through tears, “these are happy tears… these are happy tears.”
Video clips showed families breaking down as they crossed the threshold, their first structurally sound home since the deadly floods destroyed entire communities three years ago.
For Paul Johnson, the dedication was life-changing. When the floods wiped out his home, he lost the permanent address required to stay on his lung transplant list.
“I was taken off the list when I moved into an RV. After today, I can get back on the transplant list,” Johnson said. “This home exceeds anything I expected. It’s beautiful. I feel very blessed. It’s a great day.”
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The Chestnut Ridge subdivision in eastern Kentucky has 18 homes for survivors of 2022 floods that devastated the region. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
The Chestnut Ridge homes have two, three, or four bedrooms, with one notable exception. A family with 10 children has the only home in the new subdivision with five bedrooms after spending 1,128 nights crammed into two campers since losing everything in the floods.
“We were thankful to have a place to lay our heads,” the mother said, “but it was aggravating… we were all on top of each other.”
Looking around her new five-bedroom home, she couldn’t hold back, “We’re so dumbfounded, I don’t know what to do. We can breathe!”
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Rev. Graham of Samaritan’s Purse prays over and dedicated 18 homes in eastern Kentucky for survivors of 2022’s deadly floods. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
Former U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft and her husband, Joe, the CEO of coal mining company Alliance Resource Partners, donated the land on which the new neighborhood was built.
Graham also praised employees at the Hazard, Kentucky, Lowe’s, some of whom volunteered on construction crews.
Samaritan’s Purse has now constructed nearly 100 homes across Kentucky, from tornado-ravaged Mayfield to the devastated communities of the east. Crews are also rebuilding in North Carolina, which continues to reel from Hurricane Helene.
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As snow fell across the mountaintop, Graham prayed over families receiving their brand-new houses no longer haunted by the memories of 2022’s floods.
“We give God the glory and we praise Him and of course these people are going to be in their homes for Christmas,” Graham said as he looked over the row of new homes.