Tropical Storm Fay makes 4 historic landfalls in Florida

Joni B. Hannigan

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JACKSONVILLE (FBW/FBC) - Moving at a snail's pace while dumping heavy rain and pushing strong winds in an erratic pattern through Florida, Tropical Storm Fay - or "Fickle Fay" as it has been called - finally headed out of state Aug. 24 after making a historic four landfalls in Florida.

The storm system, which left behind record rainfalls of up to 30 inches on the central Atlantic coast, started in the Florida Keys Aug. 18 and left in its wake “catastrophic” flooding in Brevard County. It caused power outages, falling trees, and reportedly took the lives of 11 people in Florida and one in Georgia after claiming 14 lives in Haiti before making landfall in Florida.

Tropical Storm Fay caused numerous church service cancellations beginning Wed., Aug. 20, continuing through Aug. 24 when some churches in the Pensacola and Santa Rosa County area cancelled services in anticipation of Fay’s heavy rains and wind.

Fritz Wilson, director of the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief and Recovery department, said he has been monitoring the storm and coordinating efforts with the state’s Emergency Operation Center in Tallahassee to find ways Florida Baptists can help.

“The storm was deceptive,” said Wilson. “While it never developed into a hurricane, it did a lot of damage. The state has been fairly hard hit.”

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Wilson reported Aug. 25 numerous communities where homes and churches are flooded and trees are down.

“Today we are getting a better picture of what we need to do,” Wilson said.

Last week relief teams were already mobilized to Barefoot Bay in Brevard County after a tornado touched down there, and to Daytona Beach where immediate assistance was needed.

Volunteer Leon Branch, who serves as Florida Baptists’ clean-up and recovery coordinator, said the work is continuous. “Thousands of homes have been flooded across the state,” he said.

Working with area emergency management agencies, Florida Baptists’ response has been handled by trained, local volunteers.

A new strategy was implemented this past year to divide Florida Baptists’ 5,500 trained volunteers into the same seven regions as those designated by the EOC. Each region has leaders who are assigned to relate directly to the region’s emergency personnel.

“Our regional concept is incredible,” said Branch. “This strategy gives us the structure and clear line of communications we have needed, along with the delivery system and trained volunteers to make our response immediate and more effective.”

This week, efforts are concentrated in Brevard and Leon counties.

Meanwhile, dozens of churches throughout the state were on standby to serve as shelters. Spruce Creek Baptist Church in Daytona Beach served as a shelter. First Baptist Church in Callahan and First Baptist Church in Glen St. Mary, both in the Jacksonville area, were being offered as shelters, according to local news stations. As Fay moved throughout the state, pastors and leaders responded.

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FLORIDA KEYS

In Key West, Ozzie Vater, senior pastor of Fifth Street Baptist Church, said Aug. 19 there was localized flooding but no real damage that he could see.

“We needed the rain so it was the best case scenario, without the property damage,” Vater said. “We prayed for the best on Sunday and it never did intensify. Everything went well.”

PUNTA GORDA

Further up the western side of the peninsula, in Punta Gorda, where deadly Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm punched the community in 2004, Paul Russell, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, said Aug. 19 he was keeping a cautious eye on Fay.

“It was reminiscent of Charley,” Russell said, of the watching and waiting for Fay to arrive. “This time we battened down the hatches and boarded up the windows but haven’t really seen anything much.”

East of Punta Gorda, in Avon Park, Vernon Harkey, pastor of First Baptist Church said he believed Fay didn’t appear to be doing much damage.

ORLANDO

At First Baptist Church of Altamonte Springs in Longwood, workers spent the day Aug. 22 cleaning up standing water inside to prepare for Sunday services. The sanctuary, however, was not impacted by the flooding.

Joni B. Hannigan

Todd Lamphere, senior pastor, said: “Fay has actually done more damage to us, caused more water to come in than Charley and Ivan and all the other good friends we had four years ago.”

BREVARD

The Florida Baptist Convention reported clean-up crews led by Duke King of Central Baptist Church in Melbourne and would continue in the area (see related story).

DAYTONA BEACH

In Daytona Beach, Dennis Belz, director of missions for the Halifax Baptist Association, said there was a lot of water and some damage in the area created by high winds (see related story).

JACKSONVILLE

As rainfall amounts in Nassau County climbed into double digits Aug. 22 and 23, members of Thomas Creek Baptist Church in Callahan gauged floodwaters by the number of steps the water covered at the church’s entrance. Church leaders had already cancelled Sunday services because of thigh-high water surrounding the buildings, and water eventually seeped into the church buildings, spilling about two inches into the fellowship hall, Sunday School rooms and sanctuary.

According to Pastor Jimmy Durham, who has served the church bi-vocationally for four years, the water “has never been this high as far as I know.” The facility, located just north of Thomas Creek, is the meeting place for about 140 members of the 33-year-old congregation.

Joni B. Hannigan

On Sunday afternoon, many church members found their way to the home of Reggie and Blanche Goff, where they “sang and prayed together” until around 10 p.m., Durham said. Church members planned to meet Aug. 27 at the Goff home again, but hoped to make the church buildings usable before Sunday.

“We will have to have a lot of work done between now then to be able to meet there Sunday,” Durham said.

At press time Aug. 25, water surrounding Thomas Creek Baptist Church had receded about eight inches, and electricity had been restored to the area. A spokesperson for the Florida Baptist Convention said Disaster Relief personnel would be in touch and had offered Durham assistance.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

Churches along Fay’s fourth Florida landfall reported little damage, or rainfall, from the storm. Pastor Mark Mercer of First Baptist Church in Carrabelle – within sight of Carrabelle Bay – told the Witness the church “expected the worst, but the Lord was gracious.”

Pastor Mike Whaley, whose St. George Island First Baptist Church, has been damaged extensively in past storms, said his congregation felt “real blessed” because Fay “got to the Franklin County line and went over us.”

A water spout only a week before Fay had shut down power on the island three days after four power poles went down. He reported heavy rain during Fay, but with no flooding.

Joni B. Hannigan

Jacksonville and Tallahassee campuses of Florida Baptist Children’s Homes, like their surrounding communities, “obviously got a lot rain,” said Brian Gilpin, a spokesperson for the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes.

“We were very fortunate that everything was all OK” Gilpin said.

TALLAHASSEE AREA

At the request of the Leon County Emergency Operations Center, Florida Baptist volunteers converged on the area Aug. 24 to help residents recover from Fay.

Fred Edwards, pastor of Suwannee Baptist Church, headed up disaster relief efforts based at Celebration Baptist Church in Tallahassee.

Three crews are working to fill 50 requests from homeowners for assistance, with 11 jobs already completed Sunday and volunteers working on jobs at midday Monday amid intermittent rain. Edwards said he anticipates sending work crews out until the end of the week.

Florida Baptist Association Director of Missions David Southerland said Tallahassee church buildings “dodged a bullet” during Fay. He reported flooding around the area, but association churches were “doing well.”

THE BAPTIST COLLEGE OF FLORIDA

As Tropical Storm Fay moved westward, torrential rain greeted students Aug. 25, as they began their second week of classes at The Baptist College of Florida’s Graceville campus. According to Sandra Richards, BCF director of marketing, students were not hindered by the rain.

“My students are as cute as a button,” Richards said. “They roll up their pants legs, hold their flip flops, and run.”