In the mountains of western North Carolina Friday, two families that lost nearly everything to Hurricane Helene stepped into brand-new homes donated by Samaritan’s Purse. 

In an exclusive look provided to Fox News Digital, Rev. Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, dedicated the first mobile homes completed as part of a massive rebuilding effort aimed at restoring hope to families devastated by the storm.

“We’re grateful that they have a new home,” Graham said. “But, more importantly, we want these families to know that God loves them, and He hasn’t forgotten them.”

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Graham, who grew up just down the road from Swannanoa, called it a “full-circle moment” while standing near the same stretch of land where floodwaters swept through mobile home communities last fall. 

“To see these families move back into a real home again … we just thank God,” he said.

At the first dedication, a young mother stood on the threshold of her new home, clutching her baby and wiping away tears. Her family had been living in a cramped camper ever since their trailer was destroyed by floodwaters. Just days earlier, she had welcomed a newborn into the world.

“God has provided shelter for me,” she said softly. “He helped us get closer as a family. It’s been such a long journey, but I kept clinging to faith and patience.”

She thought Samaritan’s Purse might help rebuild her old trailer. What she got was something far beyond what she expected: a completely new, fully furnished home.

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A mother holds her newborn in the nursery of her new home, donated by Samaritan’s Purse. The family had been displaced since Hurricane Helene destroyed their previous home. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)

“I didn’t think they were going to bring us a new trailer,” she said, her voice cracking. “But this was way better. I feel really emotional. It’s hard to lose a house and all the stuff you worked hard for. But seeing this one, it brings me excitement. I’m ready for me and my family to go in and finally have our place back.”

Earlier that morning, another mother and her three children stepped inside their new home for the first time. Their previous mobile home had been crushed by a falling tree during the hurricane, leaving them displaced and uncertain about the future.

A young girl smiles as she walks through her family’s new home, provided by Samaritan’s Purse, after they lost their previous home in Hurricane Helene. Rev. Franklin Graham joined the family for the dedication. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)

Both homes were built with reinforced walls, weather-resistant features and a firm foundation designed to last for years. Each one came furnished and move-in ready. Every family received not only the keys to their new home but also a Bible, a gesture Graham said reflects the heart of the mission.

“These are homes built by God’s people, in Jesus’ name,” he said. “We want these families to know He hasn’t turned His back on them. He loves them.”

Samaritan’s Purse is building dozens of new homes across the region and delivering upgraded mobile units to survivors. The homes weigh 7,000 pounds more than standard models and are reinforced from top to bottom — roof, windows, walls and floors.

“These homes are the first two of many,” Graham said. “And we are ready to provide hundreds more if needed.”

A sign on the exterior of a new mobile home says”Given in Jesus’ Name by Samaritan’s Purse.”  (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)

Before the rebuilding began, nearly 35,000 Samaritan’s Purse volunteers poured into western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. They cut down trees, cleared debris, tarped roofs and mucked out flooded homes. The ministry also conducted the largest civilian airlift in U.S. history, delivering more than 700,000 pounds of aid on 358 flights.

In addition to housing, the organization has replaced hundreds of vehicles and helped thousands of families with grocery assistance and basic needs.

But it’s the personal moments — the quiet prayers, the tears of relief, the joy of children stepping into a bedroom again — that define the mission.

“We thank everyone who gave,” Graham said. “Thousands and thousands contributed. But, most of all, we thank God. Because He’s the one who makes all of this possible.”

To apply for help or to volunteer, visit samaritanspurse.org.

George the cat wasn’t having it. 

The feline fugitive decided recently it was time to leave an animal hospital in Lakeland, Florida, while he was still recovering after being neutered. So, he broke out of his crate and scaled a fence.

“I was distraught and heartbroken,” George’s owner, Bob Beasock, told FOX 13. 

Employees at SPCA Florida chased after George, but they weren’t able to catch him. 

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“George was able to bust out of the trap, and he literally scaled some dog fencing and went into the woods. And our staff were literally hoisting each other up over the fences to try to chase George to capture him,” Randa Richter of SPCA Florida told FOX 13, adding he still had “silly drugs in him” after his neutering. 

Days later, George arrived home 3 miles away. 

“If I would’ve gotten stuck at the SPCA, I would’ve called an Uber, but George didn’t have that option,” Beasock joked. “But coming back from there, he has to go through two or three subdivisions. He has to go around the lake, another lake that’s between us and the SPCA, and probably five or six roads.” 

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George busted out of his crate at the SPCA.  (FOX 13)

Certified cat behavioral specialist Joey Lusvardi told the station cats have evolved to find their way back.

“We think it’s due to a combination of scent or visual markers and possibly geomagnetism,” which relates to Earth’s magnetic field, Lusvardi said.

Bob Beasock brushing George (FOX 13)

“Contrary to popular belief, cats are very attached to us, so they will want to find their way back home eventually.”

Beasock, while brushing his beloved George, told the station, “He needed a human touch, and that’s what he got.” 

Two former prosecutors say that the insanity defense planned by the defense attorney representing former Letcher County, Kentucky, Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines will not hold up.

Stines is accused of shooting and killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in the judge’s chambers inside the Letcher County Courthouse on Sept. 19, 2024, in an attack that was captured on surveillance video.

“It’s very rare in most states, including Kentucky, the insanity defense and similar mental health defenses rarely work, because if the person knows right from wrong at the time they committed some criminal act, then any mental health issues are, I guess, secondary,” Phil Holloway, a former prosecutor and legal analyst based in Georgia, told Fox News Digital. “If they know right from wrong, they can still be convicted even if they have a mental health issue.”

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Last week, Fox News Digital released video footage of a Kentucky State Police (KSP) investigator and two troopers questioning a paranoid Stines in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. 

“I leave this building, I won’t draw another breath,” Stines told KSP Investigator Clayton Stamper, who led the investigation. 

“Y’all are gonna kill me, aren’t you?” he asked at one point in the interview. “Y’all are gonna kill me, I know you are. Let’s just get it over with. Let’s just go.”

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Holloway said even if the sheriff was paranoid, he still knew that the killing was wrong. 

“If you look at the sheriff’s video from his discussions with law enforcement in the hallway right after the shooting, the sheriff expresses that he’s concerned that the police or some other unnamed third party might hurt him or kill him,” Holloway said. 

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A Kentucky State Police trooper and former Letcher County Sheriff’s deputy tries to calm Shawn Stines, right, down during questioning.  (Kentucky State Police)

“And he’s asking the cops, you know, he’s even alleging that the police might stop en route to the jail to allow somebody else to do something. Now, those things might seem paranoid, and they may seem irrational, but at the same time, when he expresses those things to the officers, to me that indicates that he knows that killing is wrong. 

“It’s interesting because he’s telling the cop, he’s telling the police not to do it. So, in a way, he’s telegraphing that he knows right from wrong. And he knows that killing is wrong because he’s asking the police to not kill him.”

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Michael Wynne, a former prosecutor based in Houston, agrees with Holloway, especially given the surveillance footage from Mullins’ chambers in the moments leading up to the shooting. 

“I think this is a frivolous defense,” he told Fox News Digital. “The video shows he knows what he’s doing is wrong. If you don’t know what you’re doing is wrong, you don’t usher everybody else out of the room, and you don’t go ahead and make sure the door is closed. Those are all things that show that he has an ability to make cognizant decisions.”

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Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines looks over at the prosecutors during his arraignment at the Morgan County Courthouse in West Liberty, Kentucky, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Stines is accused of killing District Judge Kevin Mullins. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Wynne said he believes the best Stines will be able to do is plead guilty to the charges in hopes of taking the death penalty off the table, or potentially being given an opportunity for parole. 

“Based on the facts, he will lose the case [and] there will be a guilty verdict,” Wynne said. “Now, the jury and judge are not supposed to weigh the fact that the defense puts on a case here of insanity. But people are people. And, you know, he’ll be punished by the judge and the jury for raising what I think this is a frivolous defense.”

According to Stines’ attorney, Jeremy Bartley, his defense is closely tied to allegations of sexual abuse that plagued Letcher County authorities, including some in the courthouse. 

Three days before the shooting, Stines was deposed in a civil sexual assault case against his former deputy, Ben Shields, who was accused of sexually abusing a woman. Stines was also named for failing to supervise Fields.

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Defense attorney Jeremy Bartley asked questions of KSP Detective Clayton Stamper at Shawn “Mickey” Stines preliminary hearing at Morgan County District Court. Oct. 1, 2024. (Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Bartley declined to comment for this story but previously told Fox News Digital, “I think one of the big things is that my client felt there had been pressure placed on him not to say too much during the deposition, and not to talk about things that happened within the courthouse, particularly in the judge’s chambers.”

Bartley said that threats against Stines’ family caused the paranoia to reach a fever pitch. 

“On the day that this [shooting] happened, my client had attempted multiple times to contact his wife and daughter, and he firmly believed that they were in danger,” Bartley said. “He believed that they were in danger because of what he knew to have happened within the courthouse. And there was pressure, and there were threats made to him to sort of keep him in line, to keep them from saying more than these folks wanted him to say.”