Covenant News

Storm Intensifies - Several Churches in Hurricane's Path

OVIEDO, FL (August 13, 2004) - Concerns heightened today for a number of Evangelical Covenant Churches that are in the direct path of Hurricane Charley, which has now been categorized as a Category 4 storm bearing winds of up to 145 miles per hour (winds can go as high as 155 miles per hour in a Category 4 storm).

The hurricane was centered 70 miles south of Fort Myers, with the National Hurricane Center predicting the center of the storm would make landfall later this afternoon about 26 miles northwest of Fort Myers.

"We need your prayers," wrote Southeast Conference Supt. Kurt Miericke in emailed messages to numerous Covenant individuals and organizations this morning. "I am sitting in my home office and having this strange feeling just waiting for the storm to come," he wrote later this afternoon in a separate email to Covenant News Service. "It has started to rain and it is very dark. Schools are closed as well as stores and offices. Everyone was sent home to get ready. We could lose power for a few days. I am most concerned about those on the West Coast - it should be hitting there in one hour (3:15 p.m. CDT)."

Six mobile home park churches are particularly vulnerable, the superintendent noted, including Venice Isle Evangelical Covenant Church and Bay Indies Evangelical Covenant Church, both in Venice; Community Covenant-Spanish Lakes Church in Nokomis; the Evangelical Covenant Church of Tri-Par Estates in Sarasota; and Trailer Estates Covenant Church and Bayshore Covenant Church, both located in Bradenton.

People living in the areas of the six churches have been evacuated, Miericke reports – "no people and no services until Monday. The storm will hit them, but probably not directly." Miericke says three churches in the St. Petersburg area also are in the projected path with many residents there also evacuated.

"We were up until 3 a.m. this morning boarding up windows," said Brian Alnes, associate pastor at Faith Covenant Church in St. Petersburg. Alnes lives in Pinellas Park, which is on a peninsula about four miles west of the church. Other than heavy rain, he believes his area will be safe. Senior pastor Jeff Burton was not as fortunate - he and his family had to evacuate their St. Petersburg home. In commenting on the rain, Alnes noted that rainfall in Florida this year has already surpassed 110 percent of the state's average annual rainfall.

The urgency of the situation was reflected in the tone of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's admonition to residents who have not yet heeded the warnings. In particular, he said that residents in low-lying areas of the Tampa Bay area should go to shelters or stay with family or friends in the area. "When gale force winds start hitting the area, which will happen soon . . . law enforcement officials . . . will be seeking refuge as well," Bush said. "This is not a time to be getting on the interstate."

Nearly two million people already have been evacuated, with 49 shelters open statewide, according to the Office of Emergency Management. CNN reports airports in Tampa, Fort Myers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Key West are closed - Orlando's last flight departure was 5 p.m. Friday. "This is a great threat to the Tampa Bay area," Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio told CNN this morning. "This is serious for us because of storm surges that could reach 14 feet. We are expecting a significant amount of damage from this storm."

The hurricane is expected to lose strength as it goes inland, Miericke says, "but it is expected to hit Central Florida at midnight with . . . multiple inches of rain. Remember us here as well."

More information will be posted to this online Covenant news report as it becomes available.

(Editor's note: We are interested in publishing in this online Covenant news report digital photos a Covenanter in the affected areas might have, showing storm damage or other elements deemed of interest. Photos can be attached to an email in JPEG format and sent to newsdesk@covchurch.org. Make certain to include your name and location and a description of what the photos show.)

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