BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The founder of a Brevard County humanitarian group is starting his journey to the earthquake zone of Turkey.
Infrastructure damage from the quake has made it tough for survivors to find clean water. That’s why Joe Hurston and his “Air Mobile Ministries” team will deliver water purifiers to the region.
“Clean water is pretty much the No. 1 need after almost any disaster,” Hurston said. “When we arrive, I can literally set this up in one minute.”
Hurston and two other volunteers are bound for Turkey to help those impacted by an earthquake last week that killed more than 24,000 people and left 80,000 hurt.
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
“The water goes through a ceramic filter here — and that’s cleanable, good for 10K gallons — then the water goes into the ozone and UV chamber,” Hurston said. “I can set it up in one minute. That means we arrive, we open the case up, we find a dirty source of water and we’re immediately pumping water.”
Joe Hutson and his team are actually flying commercial into Turkey, not on his own plane, but it’s not the first time he’s traveled across the world helping people in need.
News 6 was there when Hurston returned from his deployment to war-torn Ukraine last April after taking portable water purifiers there, too. He said he’s also traveled to Haiti and many other countries to give back and get results.
“We’re going into hell holes, we don’t know what we’re going to find,” Hurston said. “I’ve been doing relief work since I was 14 years old and the No. 1 thing that people need is clean water.”
[STORY CONTINUES BELOW]
He said he plans to be in Turkey for at least a week and is currently only asking for two things.
“We need funding and prayer to keep going,” Hurston said.
You can find a link to Hurston’s blog where’s he posts regularly and ways to donate by clicking or tapping here.
You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below: