Hurricane Charley 2003
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Charley was predicted to run right through our part of the country. A few of us
from church took on the task of boarding up several homes in our area. We
hunkered down and just before the storm was to hit us, it turned inland and went
south and east of us. We were spared, but others around us weren't as blessed.
A family that attended our church at the time lived near Arcadia, one of the areas
that was hit by Charley. We attempted to contact them, but could not get through.
We borrowed a delivery truck from my job and one from another CC attendee,
Jim, Nick and I headed to Arcadia. It was quite a mess. We passed several
destroyed structures and noticed that most of the power lines and poles were lying
in the road.
When we passed a small Mennonite church, I quickly radioed Jim and said I
thought the Lord wanted us to turn around to see what was going on there. They
had already set up a distribution center and were sending out work teams for
immediate needs. We unloaded all of our supplies and were asked to go out and
cut down some trees. We really wanted to get to our friends from our church, the
Tuttles, but had no idea where they lived or how to get hold of them, so we took
the work order and headed out.
We came to a home with a large tree lying on a garage. The elderly lady who lived
there could not get her car out until we removed the tree. We set to work and
cleared it out for her. While working, we noticed what appeared to be a mobile
home that was totally destroyed, sitting off in the distance.
It was getting dark and curfew was coming soon so we headed home.We finally got
hold of the Tuttles and they were fine, but their home had been destroyed. They
were staying at his parent's home. We made a couple more trips out with supplies
and work teams. The next weekend we set up a group from out church to go to
the Tuttles and help clean up some of the mess.
We arrived at their parent's home and discovered that the mobile home we had
seen on our first visit belonged to the Tuttle's and the property where we had
removed the tree from the garage was actually on the same property! We had set
out to find the Tuttles and ended up working on the same property!
We helped clean up their property, cleared a large storage building that had been
destroyed, and repaired fences to help keep the cows in!
This was our first exposure to disaster relief work. I was still working a full time
job and had no idea what God was beginning to do in our lives.
A couple of years later we were contacted to go to Arcadia and help rebuild a home
that was destroyed by Charley. We did some cleaning, some electrical wiring, hung
some lighting fixtures, trimmed some doors and a few other things for a family
that had been struggling to get back into their home.
from church took on the task of boarding up several homes in our area. We
hunkered down and just before the storm was to hit us, it turned inland and went
south and east of us. We were spared, but others around us weren't as blessed.
A family that attended our church at the time lived near Arcadia, one of the areas
that was hit by Charley. We attempted to contact them, but could not get through.
We borrowed a delivery truck from my job and one from another CC attendee,
Jim, Nick and I headed to Arcadia. It was quite a mess. We passed several
destroyed structures and noticed that most of the power lines and poles were lying
in the road.
When we passed a small Mennonite church, I quickly radioed Jim and said I
thought the Lord wanted us to turn around to see what was going on there. They
had already set up a distribution center and were sending out work teams for
immediate needs. We unloaded all of our supplies and were asked to go out and
cut down some trees. We really wanted to get to our friends from our church, the
Tuttles, but had no idea where they lived or how to get hold of them, so we took
the work order and headed out.
We came to a home with a large tree lying on a garage. The elderly lady who lived
there could not get her car out until we removed the tree. We set to work and
cleared it out for her. While working, we noticed what appeared to be a mobile
home that was totally destroyed, sitting off in the distance.
It was getting dark and curfew was coming soon so we headed home.We finally got
hold of the Tuttles and they were fine, but their home had been destroyed. They
were staying at his parent's home. We made a couple more trips out with supplies
and work teams. The next weekend we set up a group from out church to go to
the Tuttles and help clean up some of the mess.
We arrived at their parent's home and discovered that the mobile home we had
seen on our first visit belonged to the Tuttle's and the property where we had
removed the tree from the garage was actually on the same property! We had set
out to find the Tuttles and ended up working on the same property!
We helped clean up their property, cleared a large storage building that had been
destroyed, and repaired fences to help keep the cows in!
This was our first exposure to disaster relief work. I was still working a full time
job and had no idea what God was beginning to do in our lives.
A couple of years later we were contacted to go to Arcadia and help rebuild a home
that was destroyed by Charley. We did some cleaning, some electrical wiring, hung
some lighting fixtures, trimmed some doors and a few other things for a family
that had been struggling to get back into their home.
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the
darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:10
darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:10
