wfn.org | Lutherans Plan Recovery Work Following Hurricane Charley

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 17, 2004

Lutherans Plan Recovery Work Following Hurricane Charley
04-151-MR

     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.
_ _ _

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