By Chris Moon
Gary Cox has been in Fort Myers, Fla., for 33 years. He’s been through a handful of hurricanes. But he’s never seen anything like the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
“This is just widespread devastation,” said the co-lead pastor of First Christian Church in Fort Myers.
The church building, which sits just a couple blocks from the Caloosahatchee River, was surprisingly spared from flooding. But the nearby marina was swamped, and Cox said boats from the marina now are piled on top of each other in a park just a block from the church building.
Neighborhoods have been flooded. Cars ruined. Homes destroyed.
Since the storm made landfall on Sept. 28, Cox said, the church’s staff and members—along with other churches and disaster relief groups—have been busy trying to help wherever they can.
“This is just going to be a long haul,” Cox said. “It’s just such an overwhelming task.”
‘50 CALLS A DAY’
With the arrival of the storm, First Christian Church pulled out $10,000 in cash to hand out to people in need. Many people needed supplies—tarps, cots, water—but stores were without electricity and took only cash.
Cox said the church told its people to be the hands and feet of Jesus to their neighbors. If they needed resources—cash, for instance—the church would step in to help.
“Everything requires just a little bit of cash,” Cox said.
Cox, himself, ran a generator with a power cord extended across the street to a neighbor’s house. At one point, 13 people and two dogs were staying in his house.
Resources have flooded in from other parts of the country. Cox has a text group with 18 churches in the area that are coordinating deliveries and distribution.
“It’s 50 calls a day, 50 emails a day,” he said. “The first two weeks was a lot of scrambling,” he said.
This hurricane is different because the damage is so extensive. There isno available lodging—no motels or hotels—where people can stay. As a result, many people are living out of cars, tents, and campers—and even in their flooded-out homes.
Scores of cars were swamped and ruined by the hurricane. It’s been almost impossible to rent a car in Florida.
‘STORY AFTER STORY’
There is opportunity, however, to share the gospel.
Cox said a church staffer was driving around giving out free gasoline. One man told the staffer he didn’t believe in God, but after the gift of free gas was rethinking that conviction.
For his part, Cox was in a store with cash from the church and found an older gentleman with 2 gallons of water in his shopping cart, right next to the cane he used for walking. Cox struck up a conversation with the man, who told him of his losses.
Cox asked whether the man had come to the store only for 2 gallons of water. The man only had enough money for that. Cox gave him $50. The man wept.
“We just have story after story of that kind of thing,” Cox said.
The best thing people can do for hurricane victims is to pray, Cox said. The next best thing is to send money to trusted organizations that can distribute it.
Cox said $100,000 already has been committed to First Christian Church’s hurricane relief fund by individuals and churches around the country. Cox said 100 percent of the donations will go to disaster relief efforts.
Information is available at www.fccfm.org.
STILL IN SHOCK
Meanwhile, the International Disaster Emergency Service has set up shop at New Day Christian Church in Port Charlotte, Fla.
IDES staff got to Port Charlotte less than two days after the hurricane passed through. Interstate 75 was at a standstill with traffic. The work started first thing the next morning.
Mason Lambert, U.S. disaster response coordinator for IDES, said the organization is sending dozens of volunteers into the community each day to put tarps on roofs, cut up fallen trees, and gut homes flooded out by the storm.
“There’s so much need, there’s definitely places we can send some folks,” Lambert said.
Volunteers have come from churches around Florida and from as far away as Kentucky and Indiana.
The stories of the needs are numerous.
One young family was evicted from their home because the landlord deemed it unlivable after the hurricane. But where to go? Volunteers from IDES are helping the family move out and locate a new home.
Lambert said staff at New Day are taking care of administrative tasks—namely by taking phone calls from people who want to help and people who need it.
“Hundreds of people are calling in,” Lambert said.
IDES volunteers have gone out to pray with people who have suffered losses through the storm.
Some homeowners still are struggling to grasp the reality of the disaster.
Lambert recalled one couple who suffered major flooding. The wife wanted volunteers to gut the house, which is a necessary task to prevent mold from overtaking the home.
The husband, however, was reluctant. He thought the many fans he had in operation would sufficiently dry out the home.
It took a heartfelt and patient conversation to convince the man to let the work begin.
“A big part of it is shock,” Lambert said.
He said tragedies such as Hurricane Ian tend to open up wounds and struggles that people already have in their lives and bring them to the forefront.
“Some people just don’t know what to do, and they are just paralyzed,” he said.
IDES has a disaster relief fund that is collecting money to help people in need in Florida. Lambert said volunteers also can sign up to help.
Both options are available on the IDES website (www.ides.org).
Chris Moon is a pastor and writer living in Redstone, Colo.
God bless Fort Myers First Christian for their ministry. Keep up the good work.