A Knoxville, Tenn., restaurant owner is feeding hurricane victims in Milton, Florida, after driving his food truck there this weekend, bringing hot meals to a Gulf Coast town still digging out from Hurricane Isaias.
Yassin Terou, owner of Yassin’s Falafel House, has helped feed hundreds of people in Milton since arriving. His team started cooking in the food truck during the drive down so meals could go out as soon as they reached Florida. He is working with both a Presbyterian church and a Christian school in Milton, and he had planned to return to Knoxville before the school asked for help and he decided to stay.
Milton was among the hardest-hit communities as Isaias brought winds topping 100 mph to the area Friday night. Nearly every street was littered with debris, downed trees and loose power lines when residents stepped outside Saturday morning, and some families looked to the Milton community center for temporary shelter.
Milton residents got their power back on Monday, but months of recovery remain ahead. Without electricity in the first days after the storm, many households had no way to cook, which is where the food truck has filled a gap.
Terou, a Muslim Syrian refugee who now calls Knoxville home, has said he helps others because he remembers when he was in need and people stepped up to help him. He said he came to Milton because the community had no resources after the storm, and that his team goes where other groups do not, calling ahead to ask where the need was greatest. Hurricane Isaias hit the homes of many in Florida, and in Milton large trees came down across yards, cars and houses.
