LCC LERT Teams Complete 21 Work Sites During Deployment to Panama City, Florida

Helping individuals throughout the community recover from Hurricane Michael

During the week of February 2 – 9, Kathy O'Day, LCC Director of Disaster Response, and twenty-two LERT Chainsaw team members from Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas served in Panama City, Florida, and surrounding communities worked out of Trinity Lutheran Church with Pastor Paul McComack and Pastor Ed Brashier, Southern District Disaster Coordinator. Using heavy equipment, twenty-one work sites were completed. Below are just a few stories of how the teams helped those who are still recovering from Hurricane Michael.

Caring for Elderly Parents
A son, PJ, caring for elderly parents with dementia, lived in a house that was badly damaged during Hurricane Michael. Multiple trees were down all around and on part of the roof. He came and met the team working at his house and could not believe all of the work that was able to be done - and for free! After 2 days of work, he knows he can now get approval to place a module on his property and stay on his own land rather than in a hotel while his home is repaired.

An Uninhabitable Home
The LERT teams removed two large trees with root balls from the back yard and cleaned up a lot of debris. The homeowner came to her home to see what was completed after she was done with work, as her home is uninhabitable. The next morning, she came to Trinity Lutheran to express her thanks to the team for all that was done. There were lots of hugs and smiles to send us out on another day.

Riding Out the Storm
This homeowner had 25 orange trees, 5 lemon trees, and multiple other trees uprooted or destroyed on her property. She stated that she had ridden out the storm in her home. She could hear all of the destruction occurring and was never so scared in all of her life. But she feels blessed that with all the trees that fell, nothing landed on her home. Her deck was destroyed, but she was safe. She was so thankful for all of the assistance.

Caring for His Disabled Sister
A brother who cares for his disabled sister lives in the home their grandparents had built and in which they had been raised in Marianna, Florida. He told us how beautiful their property had been but now was just filled with downed trees. They had ridden out the hurricane in their home, but it was really the multiple tornadoes that did the most damage in this town. They said because the roads were so impassable, their power was not restored for 42 days. As of our visit, they still had no running water into their home, except from a well near their barn with a hose attached running into their home. Although there is still more work to be done, he was so happy to see so much progress made. As he told us, “Today is my birthday and this is a great gift and blessing!”

Boom Lift Helps Remove Trees from Homes
Every day our boom lift chainsaw team worked on homes with trees to be removed from their roofs. Each homeowner was so pleased to see this work being completed as it meant they could proceed with next steps in being able to repair their home to hopefully return someday soon. Pastor Ed Brashier, Southern DDRC, also worked with this team providing support and rigging guidance on a few very difficult jobs. Many of these homeowners had been waiting months to have the boom lift team come to assist, especially as they could not afford to hire someone to do this work.

Restoring the Cemetery
On the last day in Panama City, most of our team worked at the cemetery across from the church. As they were cleaning up around the toppled tombstones, a widow stopped by to check on her husband’s grave. Three of the team members tried to upright her husband’s tombstone for her, but it was too heavy. The woman was very grateful for their effort and thanked them for their willingness to clean up the cemetery. The team also carved a couple of crosses out of stumps from fallen trees in the cemetery. A wonderful reminder of the presence of Jesus Christ.

LCC thanks the LERT team members who traveled to Florida to bring the mercy, compassion, presence and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need. Your dedicated service brought hope to those still recovering from Hurricane Michael.

Please join LCC and our LERT teams as we continue to pray for those impacted by the storm.

Donate - Hurricane Michael Disaster Reponse Fund