FOREST, Va.— Christian humanitarian organization World Help has activated its crisis response program to provide emergency aid to victims of deadly floods in southern India.

Teaming up with local partners in Kerala state, World Help is working to distribute food, water and hygiene supplies, among other emergency aid, to families that have been displaced and left stranded at relief camps. August monsoon rains have triggered what some have called the worst floods to hit southern India in a century. More than 350 people have already lost their lives, and 800,000 more have lost their homes.

“The people of Kerala and surrounding areas have had to literally swim out of their houses,” said Vernon Brewer, founder and CEO of World Help. “Some had to be evacuated by boats, while others resorted to lashing furniture together to create makeshift rafts. These are the people our partners are able to reach with emergency assistance right now. Flood victims are arriving at the camps with just the wet clothes on their backs.”

Brewer noted that, though the floods are slowly subsiding, there’s still much work to be done as victims recover and begin the long journey toward rebuilding their lives. The extensive damage to infrastructure — estimated at more than $2.7 billion — has dealt a devastating blow to people in Kerala, especially impoverished families.

“We are calling on anybody who is able to help us provide food and critical supplies to these families,” Brewer said. “We can be there in their time of need and let them know that, though they might have lost everything, they have not been forgotten.”

Contributions to World Help’s emergency aid efforts can be made through its India flood relief campaign page.

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World Help is a Christian humanitarian organization serving the physical and spiritual needs of people in impoverished communities around the world. For 27 years, World Help has worked with partners around the world to help those in need and bring hope into hopeless situations.

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