Surviving Michael

By Allan Austin

On September 17, 2018, my son Jaron and I, along with teammate Jimmy Baxter, from Eufaula, Alabama, headed to North Carolina to provide disaster relief after Hurricane Florence. We worked in Washington and New Bern for about four days before returning home with plans for a second trip. A few weeks later, on October 4, my family returned to New Bern to continue our work in the area and to attend homecoming at our former church.

On Sunday, October 7, we saw that a storm was headed toward the Gulf Coast, specifically the Florida panhandle, where we live. Believing hurricanes move slowly, and it would be days before landfall, we made plans to continue our work until Thursday before returning home. The following morning, however, Hurricane Michael had already passed Cuba and was deep into the Gulf of Mexico.

By lunchtime, the rapidly changing predictions for the storm made it clear it was time to head back to Florida. After spending the night in South Carolina, we arrived home at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday and immediately begin preparing our home and church—boarding up and tying down. We knew by all predictions Hurricane Michael was going to be a severe storm and it was headed our way.

By Wednesday morning, October 10, the winds had begun increasing rapidly. We lost power at 10:30 a.m. but continued listening to the weather radio. We heard Michael would make landfall at Mexico Beach with 155 mph winds—a strong Category 4 hurricane later upgraded to a Category 5. Those who live in hurricane prone areas understand when a cyclone makes landfall, it almost always slows down. Michael proved to be different.

Clarksville, Florida, our town, is situated 40 miles inland from where Michael made landfall. When the eye hit us, hurricane-force winds were still 150 mph. For hours, the winds raged, with sustained winds of 70 mph. That evening, the community slowly emerged from their shelters to check on each other and start removing debris and trees from roads and houses. Not a tree or house went unaffected in Calhoun County. The devastation was unbelievable. Leaves had been stripped from the few trees that remained standing, making it look like the dead of winter.

Thursday morning, people began to stop by to ask what they could do to help; others stopped by who needed help. Cell service went out about 9:00 p.m., Wednesday evening and did not return until late Friday night. People were in shock and could not communicate with friends and family for help. Our church began to help with what we had. We grabbed several cases of water and chainsaws and went to work. By Friday, most roads had cleared enough that we could check on church members and others in the community.

Traveler’s Rest Free Will Baptist Church became the distribution center for our side of the county. God sent people our way from all over the country bringing supplies, food, work, and support. Many times, they arrived exactly when needed with the supplies and necessary equipment. Our church set up a place for anyone to get the supplies they needed. For almost two months, we handed out supplies to those hit hardest by the storm. We also served meals for both storm victims and relief workers.

It will be years before all the trees are removed and houses no longer have tarps on them. FEMA and other organizations have been helping with cleanup, and the community has worked tirelessly to make great strides toward recovery.

We are surviving Michael.

After experiencing the third worst storm to hit the United States and the second worst to hit Florida, we are adjusting to a new normal. Things will never be the same, but God has done remarkable things through people from all over the country.

Much still remains to be done. If you can help with cleanup or rebuilding, your work will be appreciated. A relief training and organizational meeting for the southeast region (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi) took place May 17-18, 2019, at Camp Mt. Pleasant in Bonifay, Florida. To find out how you can get more involved, contact Allan Austin at 843-731-4986 or Tim Jordan at 334-794-5181.

I have learned it is not a matter of if disaster will strike but rather where and when. May God help us be prepared. Along with the people of Northwest Florida, let me say thank you to all who went the extra mile to help us.

About the Writer: Allan Austin is pastor of Traveler’s Rest FWB Church in Clarksville, Florida. Learn more about Free Will Baptist disaster response efforts: www.fwbmastersmen.org.