Pro surfer back home after helping hurricane victims

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Professional surfer Ben Bourgeois is back in Wrightsville Beach after making a trip to help with hurricane disaster relief in Saint Croix.

“It means a lot to me to be able to go down there and help because I’ve been going to these islands for almost 20 years now, so it’s a special place for me,” Bourgeois said.

For professional surfer Ben Bourgeois water is an important part of his life in more ways than one.

He’s part of Waves for Water, an organization that provides people with access to clean water through a filtration system.

He just returned from Saint Croix.

“This past trip was a lot different than anything I’ve done before with Waves for Water. It’s a disaster and we usually come in after the disaster happens, but we happen to be down there as Maria hit, so we got hit by Maria which changed the whole program,” Bourgeois said.

He said the devastation he saw first hand on the islands was hard to describe.

“It’s hard to really even put into words what I was seeing over there, ya know.  Just every house roofs were ripped off, every house that didn’t have a concrete ya know roof on it. Every boat was pretty much on land or on the reef in pieces. Most cars are in pieces or got lifted from one side of the island to the other. It’s pretty catastrophic,”Bourgeois said.

He came home to pick up more supplies for the island and will go back to continue teaching those in need how to use the filtration system Waves for Water provide.

“These systems can last up to ten years or more and all it is, is a five gallon bucket and a small little packet. It’s very effective, it’s portable and it’s also gravity fed, so you don’t need any power electricity. Which they don’t have right now, so what we’re doing kind of fits perfectly with the situation,” Bourgeois said.

One filtration system can provide 100 people with clean water. Clean water is vital for these hurricane victims.

Bourgeois will be going back on Monday to Saint Croix for two weeks to continue helping.

If you would like more information on Waves for Water, click here.