October 21, 2005
By Tita Parham

ORLANDO, Fla. – United Methodist church leaders and members in Florida are seriously preparing for Hurricane Wilma, but after experiencing so many hurricanes in the past 14 months, many see it as just one more storm.

The hurricane, which was lashing Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Oct. 21, was projected to reach southwest Florida late on Oct. 23 or early on Oct. 24.

Monroe County Emergency Management officials asked visitors and non-residents in the Keys to evacuate and residents began leaving as early as Oct. 20.

Speaking from his home in Marathon, Fla., the Rev. Steven Bruns said he and his wife and three girls, ages 4, 2 and 4 months old, would be among the evacuees.

Bruns is pastor of Marathon Community United Methodist Church, located in the middle of the chain of islands that make up the Florida Keys and part of the conference's South East District. He said most of the church's members – about 118 – were also leaving. Hurricane Katrina and everything that happened related to that storm helped people make up their minds to go, he noted.

"When Rita came through we had people evacuate who wouldn't have normally evacuated," he said, adding the strength of Wilma "has people really shaken," mostly because of the storm surge it could cause.

Bruns has evacuated twice already – during Katrina and Rita. He stayed during Hurricane Dennis.

The Rev. John Webb, pastor of Key West United Methodist Church, said on Oct. 19 that he is "anticipating sticking around at this point in time."

He's just not all that worried. Forecasters are projecting the storm will slow, so there's still several days to check on its movement. He has also had experience weathering a storm. He stayed on the island during Katrina and Rita, but did leave for Ivan.

"If it (Wilma) was a Category 5 and bearing down on us, it would be a different story," he said, adding very few in his congregation are leaving.

The Rev. David Harris, disaster response coordinator for the South West District of the conference, said the level of concern all depends on an individual's mindset, where they live and what they've already experienced.

Harris is pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Arcadia, a town that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Charley. He said there are still hundreds of families in trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Arcadia and DeSoto County.

He said most people were not too worried because the storm was projected to weaken in the Gulf, but reports that Wilma had become the most intense hurricane on record raised anxiety levels early Oct. 19. Some members of his church have left the area.

He says he and his church have been through it all before. "It's old hat," he said. "It's just a matter of being ready."

And they are getting ready. Harris and the district's five disaster coordinators, each in charge of a county, have begun the routine – notifying churches to begin their preparations, such as securing property and checking on church members, checking in with the county emergency management. He said it's the "general kinds of stuff you need to do to get ready."

The rest of the conference is also on alert. Conference staff in Lakeland are considering which tasks they'll do – driving trucks filled with supplies to affected areas, staffing phones, assisting with communication – to help with recovery as needed, and staff in the Florida Conference Storm Recovery Center in Lakeland say they're ready.

United Methodist News Service
Tita Parham is director of communications for the Florida Annual Conference and editor of e-Review, the online newsletter of the conference.