wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Wilma largely spared Florida presbyteries

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #9001 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05589
Oct. 31, 2005

Wilma largely spared Florida presbyteries

Physical damage is minimal, but latest hurricane takes a psychological toll

by Toya Richards Hill

LOUISVILLE - Hurricane Wilma appears to have caused little physical damage in
Florida's Peace River Presbytery, officials said last week.

	However, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations in southern
Florida, still reeling from the destruction caused by last year's Hurricane
Charlie, got an extra helping of fear.

	"We're really amazed at how well we fared," the Rev. Graham Hart,
Peace River's general presbyter, said from presbytery headquarters in North
Point, FL. "... We were impacted, but not like Charlie."

	Shingles were torn off many roofs and property sustained water
damage, Hart said, adding: "We are grateful that we didn't lose a church."

	"The real impact was more psychological rather than physical," said
the Rev. Larry Graham-Johnson, the presbytery's rebuilding coordinator.
"There is a lot of anxiety among those who have been through Charlie and the
other storms."

	Some in the presbytery are depressed and worn down, Graham-Johnson
said, adding that the pool of volunteer workers from outside has "dried up."

	"We are just really in need of a lot of help," he said.

	Hart said the area is "still three to five years off from recovery"
from last year's winds.

	"We're at the point of needing skilled work teams to come," he said.
"We are ready to receive as many as can come."

	An official of Tropical Florida Presbytery in Pompano Beach, also in
the area hit by Hurricane Wilma, couldn't be reached for comment in the last
few days.

	Susan Ryan, coordinator of the PC(USA)'s Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance (PDA), said the shortage of	laborers for Florida is "a serious,
serious issue for us."

	Ryan says the Florida victims, unlike those of the Gulf Coast, are
now in "the building stage" of recovery. "They are actually ready to use
skilled volunteers."

	In Florida, Ryan said, "we are losing a lot of teams that are going
over to Gulf. ... We are trying to encourage those teams that have hard
building skills to go to Florida. They can be immediately used there." 

	Farm workers in Immokalee, about 45 miles from Naples, FL, are also
recovering from damage caused by Hurricane Wilma. The Coalition of Immokalee
Workers - who earlier this year successfully settled their boycott against
Taco Bell - worked closely with local agencies and officials to "make sure
that the farm workers got food and water," according to Brigitte Gynther, a
co-coordinator of Interfaith Action, a non-profit organization in partnership
with the coalition of Mexican, Haitian and Mayan Indian farm workers.

	`"A lot of food has flooded into Immokalee," Gynther said. "The
biggest thing has been the distribution - and sharing with the farmers in
remote camps."

	The coalition has more than 3,000 members, she said, but on any given
day as many as 10,000 migrant workers may pass through.

	The cleanup effort has provided some extra work for field hands,
Gynther said, but "what remains to be seen is just how much" damage wind and
water have done to "the tomato and citrus harvest."

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