CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Domestic Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), are planning recovery efforts in western Florida, after Hurricane Charley caused death and destruction there Aug. 13.
At least eighteen people are known to have died as a result of the hurricane, reported Heather L. Feltman, director of Domestic Disaster Response and Lutheran Disaster Response. About 209,000 homes sustained damage, some of which were destroyed, she said.
About 80 percent of building structures in Charlotte County, Fla., are significantly damaged, and several hospitals in the county are damaged or destroyed, she said.
"People are still without food or running water," Feltman said. Just under "1 million people are still without power," she said.
Response to Hurricane Charley "is now in the recovery phase," said Feltman.
The ELCA Domestic Disaster Response and Lutheran Disaster Response are working with emergency management authorities and ecumenical partners to plan recovery efforts north of Fort Myers and Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda and inland toward Orlando, Fla. Both are providing crisis counseling and spiritual support for survivors of Hurricane Charley, Feltman added.
Some congregations of the ELCA -- Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and Peace Lutheran Church, both in Port Charlotte -- sustained significant damage.
"As one who had been evacuated, but 'dodged the bullet' in Tampa Bay, I found it humbling to walk through the debris field of those who took the direct hit in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte," said the Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel, director of communication, ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod, Tampa, Fla.
"And debris field it is. Mile after mile, block after block, yard after yard. Hardly a square inch of ground left uncovered with something -- tree limbs, shingles, insulation, downed power lines and poles, pieces of metal, glass, wood, brick and concrete. You had to watch where you walked," Weitzel said.
"The sight was destruction everywhere. No home was left untouched by roof and yard damage at a minimum. Every building showed marks of pelting by flying mud and leaves, now dried and pasted on anything vertical. In commercial areas, 95 percent of the signs were blown out, leaving gaping shells announcing nothing," he said.
Weitzel said the hardest hit areas were mobile home communities. "This is truly where the debris field thickened beyond belief. Enormous areas of jumbled scrap metal that extended far beyond the communities," he said.
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More information about Hurricane Charley recovery efforts is at http://www.elca.org/disaster on the ELCA Web site. Specific information about damage and recovery in the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod is available at http://www.fbsynod.org on the Web.
DOMESTIC DISASTERS:
Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds to aid survivors of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via Internet: http://www.elca.org/disaster
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
