Samaritan’s Purse volunteers bow their heads in prayer before removing sodden insulation from a Riverview Mobile Home Estates home on Feb. 19, 2020.

PENDLETON — Todd Taylor knows disaster.

Taylor, a North Carolinian who oversees U.S. teams from an international disaster relief organization called Samaritan’s Purse, has experienced the aftermath of hurricanes, tornados, fire and floods. In 2020, his teams responded to deadly tornados in Tennessee, flooding in Michigan and Hurricane Laura in Louisiana. They spent three months in Southern Oregon after fire ripped through the cities of Talent and Phoenix, and burned more than 2,000 homes.

Even with one disaster after another, Taylor clearly remembers Pendleton. Swollen rivers and creeks had jumped the banks on Feb. 7, 2020, and by the time Taylor’s team reached the area a week later, it encountered devastation and numerous flooded-out residents who were still reeling.

“When we arrived in Pendleton, we saw hundreds of homes with severe flash flood damage from the very rapid snowmelt and heavy rains,” Taylor said.

The team parked its semitrailer in the First Assembly of God parking lot to use as a headquarters and got to work. In the next three weeks, 209 volunteers (many of them local) worked a total of 4,424 hours to clear debris and prep homes for reconstruction. This marked the first West Coast flood response for the relief organization, which is funded by private donations.

Some images remain lodged in Taylor’s brain.

“One home just outside the town of Pendleton was a farmstead that was completely inundated with mud,” he said. “It was such a trauma for that family, which had young kids. To see the damage to the farmland surrounding that homestead, just knowing they had a long road to recovery ahead of them.”

Taylor also remembered the devastation experienced by residents living in Riverside Mobile Home Estates in Pendleton.

“I remember that trailer park and the utter devastation,” he said. “It was so hard for those homeowners.”

Taylor said his teams don’t help residents rebuild, but rather to clear out muck and debris and prep their homes for reconstruction. Some of the residences, however, were beyond repair.

“In Pendleton, we saw homes that were washed completely off the foundation or sitting on the ground,” he said. “Home owners have to deal with flood plain maps and city ordinances. There may be flood plain mitigation that has to be done. They can’t simply get a building permit and replace their home. The structure may have to be elevated. It may be damaged beyond a certain threshold that will allow simple repairs to be made. It’s a detailed process to deal with a flooded home. We don’t want them to jump into things and make hasty decisions that could hurt them in the long run.”

Volunteers spent their days clearing away debris, tearing off sheetrock, ripping up flooring and pulling out nails. They treated the homes with Shockwave, a chemical that suppresses mold growth for 30 days and gives homes a chance to dry out.

Ray Thompson, a chaplain with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Rapid Response Team, which often teams with Samaritan’s Purse, also spent time in the Pendleton area with the crews. Thompson, a Southern Californian who had a career as a fire captain in the Los Angeles Fire Department, has comforted victims of floods, fires, earthquakes, explosions, mass shootings, tornados, hurricanes and snowstorms. The common thread they share is a paralyzing sense of loss. He said he finds the simple act of listening gets people into recovery mode.

“When we listen, people want to tell their story,” Thompson said. “I really believe that starts them on the path of moving forward.”

He tells them the despair they are feeling is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. He helps them realize there is a tomorrow. If they are spiritual, he goes there. If not, he doesn’t push it.

”I don’t get them in a headlock and read tracts to them,” he said.

If they welcome spiritual advice he recommends comforting passages in the Bible.

”God reaches out and wraps his arms around you with his word,” Thompson said.

Neither Taylor nor Thompson can fully predict where disaster will lead them in 2021.

The pandemic added its own brand of calamity. Samaritan’s Purse added COVID-19 field hospitals to its repertoire. These temporary hospitals provide intermediate COVID care for patients who don’t need ventilators, but require hospitalization. So far, the organization set up field hospitals in New York City, California, North Carolina, Italy and the Bahamas.

Thompson said disasters, whatever their flavor, leave an imprint on their victims.

”You get through it and around it somehow,” Thompson said. “People are resilient. But you never forget it.”

Memories of his time in Oregon haven’t faded for the chaplain.

“I remember incredibly wonderful people who invited us not only into their homes, but also into their hearts and lives,” he said. “I was really blessed by that time in Pendleton.”