Tropical Storm / Hurricane Fay - Congregational Status Updates
Advent Lutheran Church, Melbourne
We
here at Advent, Melbourne are doing well. Minor water issues that
we're handling and no reports of parishioners in trouble. We sent
out a phone tree message asking for reports of damage or injury (none
received) and for food assistance for local pantry.
All things considered, we all weathered the storm with little problems. Some trees came down, and we had a lot of standing water on the property. We have been worshiping in our outdoor Pavilion since May due to mold problems in our sanctuary (triple-wide trailer). The trailer is in the process of being demolished (couldn't finish it because it was too wet and that was before the tropical storm!). There have been more delays in building the new sanctuary. Through it all, God is good, for by Sunday morning, a lot of the standing water had gone down and it was sunny and a slight breeze this morning for worship! - Pr. Julie Frank
Living Lord Lutheran Church, Vero Beach
Living Lord Vero Beach is fine. We've had a couple small leaks
that are already scheduled for repair.
All is well in Vero Beach. We're just pretty soggy. No problems though. - Pr. Jack Diehl
Christus Victor Lutheran Church, Naples
Just to let you all know, everything is fine
here at Christus Victor in Naples. The winds and rain were quite
hard at times but there was no major damage! May God be with us
all during the rest of this Hurricane Season.
Thank you so very much for your prayers and concern. We are doing fine and the storm is pretty much over down here in the Lower Florida Keys. Our congregation, Lord of the Seas has come through AOK. For this we give God thanks and praise. We will continue to pray for our brothers and sisters north of us, that God will be with all. -Pr. George Cruz
As we all know, Fay was a bit less than expected, and so in Naples at least we went through it fine. At Emmanuel we had power out, but not for long, and only a bit of water in under some doors. So we're doing fine and back to work on Wednesday. -Tom Gemmer, Associate in Ministry
Good Shepherd
Lutheran, Tampa
As of 5 pm Monday, we have made
the decision that the church office, building and our pre-school will be
closed tomorrow. We will see about Wed.
-Pr. Jeannine Sweet
Lutheran Disaster Response-Team Florida began meeting today to evaluate the damage caused by Tropical Storm Fay as it crossed the state this week, even as the story of the storm is still unfolding.
Fay made landfall on Monday afternoon, Aug. 18 at Key West, then again early Tue., Aug. 19 at Cape Romano south of Naples. Remaining a tropical storm with winds at 50-65 mph, Fay proceeded slowly on a northeast path across the state and had moved into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Canaveral on Wednesday around noon. Click here for the latest report on the storm.
Reports at the LDR meeting centered largely on rain and flood damage, with many areas receiving upwards to 10 inches of rain. Brevard and Glades Counties were particularly noted. Tornado damage was reported in Barefoot Bay and other wind damage also was noted in Immokalee, particularly to mobile homes. Power outages occurred until late Tuesday evening in southwest Florida around Naples.
Representatives of the Florida-Georgia District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America stated that water had entered some of the churches, but they were still waiting for more detail and this and on news of church members.
Danielle Kearney, Lutheran Services Florida (LSF) coordinator for LDR-Team Florida, stated that she learned from the Florida Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) that food pantries across the state were already depleted before Fay crossed the state, and the storm has now made that need critical. And not just for those directly impacted by the storm.
"Just because the storm didn’t go through an area doesn’t mean people were affected," said Jody Hill of Florida Interfaith Networking in Disaster (FIND). "Houses may not be damaged, but people lost a day of work," she added.
Other immediate needs included flood buckets for clean up in areas where flooding has occurred. Mary Weibel of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reported later that she would be putting a group of Thrivent members together to assemble about 50 buckets.
LDR-Team Florida will continue to meet this week to receive reports on damage and need and to further evaluate appropriate response.
APPEAL FOR FOOD, FLOOD BUCKETS
People are encouraged to donate food to their local food pantries to assist with the current food shortage across the state and the need that will result from Tropical Storm Fay.
Food pantries with ample supplies are encouraged to contact LDR Coordinator Danielle Kearney at dkearney@lsfnet.org or at 813-875-1408 to indicate their ability and willingness to help out in affected areas.
People who are willing to assemble flood buckets for clean up use across the state are also encouraged to contact Danielle Kearney. Click here for instructions on preparing flood buckets.