Photograph by Karen Workman
By Geoffrey Biddulph
Some people wait for buses or trains or airplanes. Down here in Florida, we wait for hurricanes.
They have been coming with alarming regularity. In mid-August, it was Hurricane Charley, which slammed into the west coast of Florida. On Sept. 4, it was Hurricane Frances, which came ashore on the east coast. Now, Hurricane Ivan is lining up to perhaps hit Florida sometime Sept. 13 or 14.
By the time you read this Monday, Ivan will probably have hit or come near the Florida Keys. It also may head in the direction of my home in Miami or it may head north and west and hit the west coast of Florida, just like Hurricane Charley. Or it might head into the Gulf and threaten northern Florida. With a hurricane, you just never know exactly where it’s going to hit.
On Friday, when this story was written, Hurricane Ivan was threatening Jamaica with 145 mph winds and gusts even higher. I lived through Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in Miami. To get an idea what 145 mph winds are like, imagine a force so strong that it can literally tear the roof off of thousands of homes. Imagine winds so fierce that they can take stop signs, uproot them and send them vertical 50 yards down the road into car windows.
It is inevitable during a hurricane that you stop and ponder the wonder and power of the Creator. One house will be completely destroyed and the one next door will have minor damage. The storms veer off in unpredictable directions and increase or decrease power unexpectedly. Hurricane Charley was heading straight for Tampa bay in August with 90 mph winds until at the last moment it headed 100 miles south and hit Port Charlotte with 130 mph winds.
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Photograph by Karen Workman
These storms have an unmistakable ability to humble those in their path. This humbling process makes people friendlier, more open, more willing to love their neighbors. Blocks of people band together to help each other, share supplies, offer their support. Neighbors who have never met each other stop to chat in their front yards or over their fences.
The Church has done a marvelous job at reaching out to others in the community during this series of storms. Church members from Florida and Georgia traveled to the regions hit by the storms to help rebuild and clean up after Hurricanes Charley and Frances. The Church sent truckload after truckload of supplies from Atlanta and Orlando to areas hit by the storms. Bishops’ storehouses in the area were emptied so the hungry could be fed, and then they were restocked almost immediately.
In many areas, Church relief supplies were the first to arrive. Church counselors helped those emotionally devastated by the storms.
About 15 people from my ward drove up to Port Charlotte a week after the hurricane hit. They all wore T-shirts saying “Mormon helping hands.” They traveled in groups to homes and helped people rebuild roofs and clean up their yards. The vast majority or people who were helped were non-members.
People expressed astonishment and pure joy that others would lend of their time to serve others. See the two attached news stories for more:
Bradford County Telegraph:
Local LDS Church Members Reroof Homes
Sun Herald: Church Lends Helping Hand
We talk a lot about what Jesus would do. What would Jesus do to help those whose homes were in pieces? Wouldn’t the carpenter’s son pick up a saw and a hammer and help put it back together? Wouldn’t the man who washed his disciple’s feet before he was killed for us serve others by offering comfort and relief?
I constantly marvel at the power of the Church to organize and spread good cheer and good deeds. The ripple effect of these relief efforts is difficult to underestimate – one person’s home is rebuilt, and she tells all her neighbors and family and friends, and they tell all their friends. The message will be the same: volunteers from our Church made a difference in somebody’s life and the goodness of that act spreads around like a beneficent virus.
A hurricane reminds you of your responsibilities as a priesthood holder. You have a responsibility to your family first and foremost to make sure your home is a safe haven, and if it isn’t you must make plans to evacuate. In my case, our house is well-built and on the top of a small rise in Miami (one of the highest in south Florida), which means I am out of the flood zone.
I have already put shutters on most of my house. This week, I spent hours at the hardware story buying more plywood that I will have to cut into shape to cover the last windows that are still without shutters. This weekend, I will be out in the yard cutting plywood and clearing from my yard anything that possibly could become a projectile. In Miami, this is hard, sweaty work in 90 degree heat with severe humidity. When I’m working outside, I usually drink at least a gallon of water a day – and sometimes more – to keep myself hydrated.
Meanwhile, I will call all of the families that I home teach. I will call the other high priests in the group to make sure we are all ready.
And then we will spend the weekend waiting, watching the news and doing our last bit of preparation. Church meetings were all canceled last weekend as we hunkered down in our houses waiting for Hurricane Frances (that hurricane hit about 100 miles north of Miami and caused considerable damage there). Stake conference was canceled this weekend in the Homestead stake.
If this hurricane hits Miami, it may take days or even weeks for phone service, potable water and electricity to get restored. Our lives will be completely changed – how will we sleep in the oppressive heat? How will we shower? We have enough food storage to last through most emergencies, but what will our neighbors do? What about the members of our ward and stake – how will they fare?
Of course, my wife and I pray twice a day that we will be spared the worst affects of the storm.
If the hurricane hits another community, next weekend we’ll probably be traveling there to help others. I’ve got battery-powered drills and a chain saw. My wife – my eternal companion – is ready to help load up the car and go where we are needed.
We both believe that is, after all, what Jesus would do.
