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Real Hurricane Relief
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This is the beginning of hurricane season. But, for the past year it’s been one blow after another for some Florida residents who endured Hurricane Charley. Their homes are being repaired, but emotional scars may take longer to heal. As Reed Galin reports, one small church is not just patching roofs, it’s helping to ease the psychological trauma brought on by the wild wind. |
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SCRIPT:
(Locator: Pine Island, Florida)
Resident: “You could use the word 'a war zone' through here.”
Nine months after Hurricane Charley scored a direct hit on Pine Island, Florida, not all the scars are physical.
Kate Stiger/Pine Island Resident: “It was just such an awful experience, being in the hallway and everything’s just tumbling in down on you.”
Residents keep a nervous eye on the sky as the new hurricane season begins. And members of Pine Island United Methodist Church are reaching out to help.
Rev. Scott Harris/Pine Island United Methodist Church: “We’re beginning to see, I think, some post-traumatic stress.”
Pastor Scott Harris joined with several other churches on the island to form the Beacon of Hope support group. One of the services offered is psychological counseling for people affected by the storms.
Rev. Scott Harris/Pine Island United Methodist Church: “I would say that probably in our congregation that we have lost in the neighborhood of 50 to 100 families that have just decided to move out.”
Some homes are still being repaired because of contractor shortages and disputes with insurance companies.
Workers: “We’ve still got power through a drop cord, right? Yes.”
Beacon of Hope volunteers are working on hundreds of homes that might not hold up to another storm, adding to anxiety on the island.
Debi Jensen/Florida Conference Storm Recovery Center: “A good tropical storm, a heavy rainy season, will destroy what’s left of those homes. So people are nervous.”
Kate Stiger/Pine Island Resident: “We’ll definitely never stay here again during a hurricane. It was too frightening.”
One goal is developing an emergency plan so Pine Island will be more prepared for the next big storm.
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Relief workers say the recovery effort is far from over. Thousands of homes still need repairs in the areas hit by Hurricane Charley.
For more information, contact the Florida Conference Storm Recovery Center at 1-800-282-8011, ext. 149 or log onto: http://flumc2.org/page.asp?PKValue=462.
And to read more about the recovery on Pine Island, go to http://www.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=2&mid=8683.