With people scrambling for safety and horrifying images of burning houses and smoke, several have come together to pray for the victims in California. Driven by the Santa Ana Winds and the dry conditions, the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, and more continue to wreak havoc. Several Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Pacific Palisades, are the worst hit. Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-wife Shaunie Henderson whose family is in California, took to social media to share some words of comfort and help.

Taking to Instagram, Shaunie Henderson expressed how the areas she is so familiar with and used to visit have been swept through by the fire. Her husband also joined her to pray. Pastor Keion mentioned how Shaunie’s mother also lives in that area. “My wife texted me a picture of what was happening in California, and that’s where she’s from. And her mother is there right now. And I just read an article that said about four acres a minute, four football fields a minute is being devastated,” Pastor Keion mentioned the harrowing details.

A map by CBS News shows that nearly 15,832 acres of land in the Pacific Palisades area have been affected. “It’s a beautiful area. Palisades is, I grew up, you know, in Los Angeles. So all of that, it’s crazy to see that so much is gone,” she said. Her sons, who have friends in LA, have been texting her about how much has been engulfed in the fire. The Sunset Fire has already swept nearly 20 acres of vegetation, according to officials. Pastor Keion Henderson, who joined the video, also expressed his concern. He also brought attention to the other major crisis.

A sudden winter storm has hit the northern United States with heavy snowfall and temperatures dropping to unprecedented levels. Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas, and parts of New Jersey are under a state of emergency due to severe weather conditions. Kansas is facing the heaviest snowfall in 32 years. Serious blizzard conditions have also swept across much of Canada.

“And so you got one side of the country being devastated by heat, another will fire another side of the country being devastated by this blizzard. Everybody’s going through something. And so we wanted to just pray with you all. If you know anybody, if you have any family, any friends, let them know that we’re going to be praying here in about two or three minutes and they can hop on,” Pastor Keion said. 

He further added, “So I pray, God, against the loss of life. I ask that you would send forth rain to calm the wildfires in California. I pray that the sun will follow the freeze that’s happening across the rest of the nation.”

Along with their warm words of comfort, the couple once again shared the numbers that can help those who are suffering. The post is captioned, “Just a quick prayer for those enduring the wildfires of the west and the blizzard of the Midwest/East Coast. Here are a couple resources: FEMA disasterassistance.gov. (800) 621-3362 American Red Cross redcross.org.”

Nearly 70,000 residents of Los Angeles County were ordered to evacuate, including 30,000 due to the Palisades Fire.

Prayers pour in for the affected people

Vice President Kamala Harris’ family in Los Angeles has also been ordered to evacuate as per her spokesperson. NBA coaches Steve Kerr’s and JJ Redick’s families were also among those affected who had to quickly move to safety. Redick wrote, “I just want to acknowledge and send thoughts and prayers to everyone in the Palisades right now. That’s where I live.”

Kerr’s mother lived in that area and had to evacuate, as well. Taking to social media, he wrote, “I want to send my thoughts and condolences to everybody in Los Angeles dealing with the fires. My mom lives in Pacific Palisades. She had to evacuate.”

Amid the serious situation, NBA legend Dwyane Wade took to social media to address the issue. “Pray for California,” Wade wrote on his IG story.

Requesting the people to stay alert, former NBA player Paul Pierce shared, “I just pray for all of those who this fire is affecting. I don’t think people really understand the magnitude of it. Pretty much anywhere in la, you can see smoke up in the sky. It’s a possibility I can get affected just paying close attention to the warnings. It’s coming up behind the mountainside of where my house is.” 

These are trying times for the people and we pray for those affected by the wildfires as well as the blizzards sweeping across the nation.