Hurricane Dorian Relief Team Returns To Tulsa

Dr. Esther Papp and Minister Sam Alex are back home in Tulsa after an eye-opening and emotional 11 days tending to Hurricane Dorian devastation.

"It was worse than I expected,” said Alex.

The two were part of a team through "In His Image International" that responded to Grand Bahama Island shortly after Hurricane Dorian moved past.

The category 5 storm, leaving catastrophic damage behind.

"We literally went and saw homes [with] nothing there other than the foundations,” said Alex. “And we were told more than 70,000 people lost everything."

About 600 people are also still unaccounted for and at least 60 are confirmed dead.

Alex says his role was to provide emotional support and counseling.

“Forty percent of the family members we spoke with, they lost their immediate family. The husbands lost their wife. Wives lost their husbands,” said Alex.

Almost all of the infrastructure is also either completely gone or heavily damaged, which includes the hospitals on the island.

So Dr. Papp provided routine clinical care.

"It just became normal to see a patient with uncontrolled blood pressure, and ask them, do you have a primary care doctor? Is your doctor still alive? Is your doctor's clinic still here or did your doctor's clinic get washed away from the hurricane. Those were just normal questions,” said Dr. Papp.

Both Alex and Dr. Papp say, while people on the island are getting supplies and help, the thing they need most now are prayers.

"I want to encourage people to keep praying for them and I'm so impressed with the people in how they are really, really trusting in God,” said Dr. Papp.