Lutherans Prepare For Strong Hit From Hurricane Frances

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Residents in the Bahamas and Florida were making last-minute preparations Sept. 2 for Hurricane Frances, a powerful storm packing winds of 145 miles per hour. The storm was moving through the Bahamas and is threatening the southeast coast of Florida, a state that just experienced the destructive winds of Hurricane Charley Aug. 13.
"Everything has changed so quickly," said the Rev. Edward R. Benoway, bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in a news release from the synod. "We've gone from response [to Charley] to preparation practically overnight," he said, referring to the new threat from Hurricane Frances.
Benoway traveled Sept. 2 to Oviedo and Haines City, both in Hurricane Charley's destructive path in Florida, to meet with professional leaders and representatives of Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) about the ongoing response effort. Those meetings quickly turned to conversations about preparation instead. LDR is a partnership ministry of the ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS).
Moving from one site to the other was also difficult because of the more than 1 million people who had already evacuated their homes and crowded Florida's highways, the release said.
"I-4 is a parking lot," Benoway said of the main artery between Orlando and Tampa. He called into his office for alternate routes.
Another meeting scheduled for Sept. 3 with pastors in the hardest hit areas around Charlotte County had to be postponed.
"It was a terribly hard decision to make because those pastors really need to get together," Benoway said. "But evacuations and road closings are making that difficult now with Hurricane Frances."

A 'Big One'
"This is definitely going to be a big one," said Ken Aicher, assistant to the bishop for administration and coordinator for disaster response, Florida-Bahamas Synod.
"We're already planning on much greater damage from this hurricane than from Charley," he added, referring to his work with LDR-Team Florida. The team had already begun brainstorming on how to respond to the two Lutheran churches in the Bahamas, an ELCA congregation in Freeport and an LCMS congregation in Nassau.
News reports indicated that Hurricane Frances was "the size of the state of Texas," twice the size of Hurricane Charley and just as deadly.
Gena Granger, Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Freeport, Bahamas, indicated that news reports predicted that the slow-moving storm would take 10 hours to pass over the island with its 145 m.p.h. winds Sept. 2-3.

Supplies Sold Out
The Rev. Rick Armstrong, Lutheran Counseling Services, Winter Park, Fla., said plywood, water and batteries were already sold out earlier this week in the Orlando area.
"People here never thought a hurricane would hit them, since they were inland – until Hurricane Charley came," he said. "Now everyone is taking Frances very seriously."

'Emotional Overload' for People Affected by Charley
The Rev. Kenneth W. Barrios, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Port Charlotte, Fla., said people there "are on emotional overload."
"So many people have no homes or still have holes in their roof with just a tarp over it," he said. "They're asking, 'What do we do now?'"
Barrios and his wife, the Rev. Andrea N. Barrios, Holy Trinity, experienced destruction in their own home when Hurricane Charley caused ceilings to fall.
"People are becoming more and more frustrated. It's really very challenging to be a pastor right now," he said.

Peace in the Storm
"At times like these, it's good to know that we are held in the hands of God and bound by our baptism into community with one another," said the Rev. David G. Mesenbring, Seafarer's House, Port Everglades, Fla. "I'm taking heart in knowing that depending on what happens to us here, we'll either 'be' or 'need' the helping hands of others."
"God truly is our refuge and strength," Benoway said. "We can count on God to be with us in every situation, no matter how many hurricanes batter us," he said.
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* The Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel is director of communications, ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod.

Hurricane reports and information about are available from the Florida-Bahamas Synod at http://www.fbsynod.org and at http://www.elca.org/disaster on the ELCA Web site.

DOMESTIC DISASTERS:
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ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
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