Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne pounded various sections of Florida, the Gulf Coast and the interior and coastal Eastern Seaboard throughout the months of August and September 2004, killing over 60 people and causing billions of dollars of damage in destroyed homes, property, crops and businesses. An estimated 15,000 homes were destroyed outright, with another 30,000 needing major repairs. Hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland were damaged, resulting in a loss of approximately 10,000 jobs in the region. Half of the 500,000 households affected were already economically distressed before the storms: 125,000 were elderly subsisting solely on Social Security, over 80,000 citrus farm and other migrant workers were impacted, and thousands of families lacked adequate insurance coverage. After communicating with the affected dioceses, ERD responded with traditional emergency grants, to assist the diocese in responding to urgent human need in the immediate wake of the hurricanes.
This ERD story comes from ERD’s Program Director of Emergency Response, Mark Spina, who visited two of the most affected dioceses: Central Gulf Coast and Southwest Florida.
Fr. Cesar Olivera of St. James spoke to me of his parish of 325 people in Port Charlotte, a city between Tampa and Sarasota. Most congregants are over 65, live on fixed incomes, and were deeply impacted by the storm. “Homes were gutted down to the frame… People ‘on the margins’ were badly affected, in many cases could not make house or utility payments, lost all their food. They weren’t ‘liquid’ financially, so they couldn’t absorb the shock of these losses.” St. James was able to use several hundred dollars of ERD emergency funds to help community members and parishioners with money for food, rent and mortgage payments.
These sentiments were echoed in the Diocese of Southwest Florida. Fr. Vincent Scotto of Punta Gorda told of many needs in his community. “These people have experienced a profound loss of security, a way of life is gone,” remarked Fr. Scotto. When asked about the future, Fr. Scotto said he knew that there would be more needs, that people are just now “living into” their new reality and may realize that they might still need help with food, utility bills and other needs in the many months to come. Fr. Scotto said that he hoped the church would plan to provide longer-term emotional counseling – a type of bereavement program – in the future.
Bishop Philip Duncan, from the Diocese of Central Gulf Coast, where 34 of 64 parishes were damaged –15 severely, told me, “most of the church buildings fared well… most of the severe damage here is on a personal level.” However, “‘snow birds’ won’t come to the destroyed areas; affecting the economy deeply…those who are living on the margins have been made more marginal. Those without medical insurance are the worst off.”
Another church I visited was St Simon’s on the Sound Church in Fort Walton Beach. It is a large church with approximately 600 members – many former military people, middle to upper middle class, but many older people too. The parish sustained much damage from Hurricane Ivan. Those most affected were on the margins – especially landscapers and day laborers, many of whom are immigrants, who lost at least 2 weeks’ pay. They could not absorb that kind of loss. Many faced eviction from impatient, unscrupulous landlords, and therefore had rent, utilities, food needs, which the church used ERD emerg asst for. Fr. Bill Richter, pastor, told me of one such beneficiary: John, who is 35 years old and lives in Ft. Walton Beach, making his living doing power washing of parking lots and store windows. So many structures and restaurants were destroyed he had no work and fell behind on his rent. St. Simon’s helped him with the money he needed for rent to tide him over until business picks up again.
ERD is continuing to monitor the needs of the affected communities during the long-term rehabilitation process.
