Stories tagged with: hurricane michael

• Hurricane Michael: Year later, God still at work

  by Barbara Denman, posted Monday, October 21, 2019 (2 years ago)

  

  Submitted photo

  MEXICO BEACH, Fla. (BP) -- Riding out Hurricane Michael's 161-mph winds at home in Mexico Beach, Fla., Barbara and Bubba Harmon watched as the storm's nine-foot tidal wave rushed toward them, pieces of broken lives, debris and garbage in its wake.

  As the family prepared for the worst, in what seemed like only seconds, the rushing storm surge engulfed an empty lake on their property, diverting the dangerous wave away from their home and saving the family from the devastating onslaught. Read More

• Hurricane Michael one year later: A home for DR volunteers

  by Margaret Colson/Florida Baptist Convention, posted Friday, October 11, 2019 (2 years ago)

  

  Florida Baptist Convention photo

  PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- Two days after Category 5 Hurricane Michael made landfall on Florida's Panhandle on Oct. 10, 2018, Florida Baptists' disaster relief volunteers were there.

  Headquartered at Hiland Park Baptist Church in Panama City, volunteers were actively assessing damage, beginning to meet needs and sharing God's love. Read More

• Hurricane Michael: One year later, partnerships vital

  by Margaret Colson/Florida Baptist Convention, posted Thursday, October 10, 2019 (2 years ago)

  

  Carlisle Baptist Church photo

  PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- Joshua Fidler walked across a field that had been covered for almost ten months by massive debris -- "a void that used to be our sanctuary" when he saw a page that had been ripped from a Bible in the cleanup following the fury of Hurricane Michael on Oct. 10, 2018.

  The pastor of Carlisle Baptist Church in Panama City picked up the scrap of paper and began reading God's words from Leviticus 26:12, "I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people." Read More

• VBS continues despite Hurricane Michael devastation

  by Tess Schoonhoven, posted Friday, August 02, 2019 (2 years ago)

  

  Submitted photo

  PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- Uprooted dead trees line the ground. Uninhabitable apartment buildings are empty. Street signs are missing. Businesses are closed. Families have vacated their homes.

  It might sound like a war zone, but this is Panama City, Fla., and the surrounding community that was devastated by Hurricane Michael in October 2018. Much of the area is still being rebuilt many months after the Category 5 storm swept through the area. Read More

• Hurricane-weary pastors buoyed by Fla. conv., NAMB

  by Tobin Perry, posted Monday, April 01, 2019 (3 years ago)

  

  Photo provided by NAMB.

  PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- When Hurricane Michael barreled through the Florida Gulf Coast last October, it transformed the ministry of First Baptist Church in Port St. Joe. No longer could the church focus on only typical everyday ministry activities.

  After Michael, half of the church's families had lost their homes. Many had to move outside the area to find work and housing. The church's own building was battered so intensely that it was no longer usable. Marriages were stressed. Long-held family heirlooms were lost forever. Read More

• Collegians confront Hurricane Michael's aftermath

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Thursday, March 28, 2019 (3 years ago)

  

  Photo by Todd Stone/NAMB

  PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- "Awesome, raw power. Wind and flying debris and trees coming down."

  Jean Bartlett remembers the fury of Hurricane Michael like it was yesterday. The devastating storm devoured much of the Florida Panhandle in October 2018. "Some of the time, it was like white-out conditions. You couldn't see because the wind and the rain were so strong." Read More

• Church partnerships emerging after Hurricane Michael

  by Nicole Kalil/Florida Baptist Convention, posted Tuesday, October 30, 2018 (3 years ago)

  

  Florida Baptist Convention photo

  PORT ST. JOE, Fla. (BP) -- While Hurricane Michael brought the devastation that so often comes with a storm of its magnitude, Florida Baptists are discovering some unexpected blessings through their Churches Helping Churches initiative.

  "Our church-to-church effort is designed to identify a non-storm affected church that is willing to partner with a storm-impacted church to serve as the point of contact for coordinating recovery responses and efforts for that specific church," said Lewis Miller, the Florida Baptist Convention's west Florida regional catalyst. Churches from other states also have indicated a readiness to help.

  Many Florida Baptist churches were on high alert before Hurricane Michael even made landfall. First Baptist Church in Orange Park was among them, where lead pastor David Tarkington said he and others prayed over the church's response as the storm approached, knowing that they would probably "give and go." Read More

• Pence visits Florida, encourages survivors & DR teams

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Friday, October 26, 2018 (3 years ago)

  

  Photo by Sara Brockmann/NAMB

  PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- Vice President Mike Pence, his wife Karen and Florida Gov. Rick Scott visited Hiland Park Baptist Church in Panama City, Fla., Thursday (Oct. 25) to encourage survivors of Hurricane Michael, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and other volunteers who have been serving the community in the storm's aftermath.

  "It's deeply moving to us to see the level of devastation but also to see the resilience of everyone here and also to see the generosity -- the generosity of the Southern Baptist Convention, Hiland Baptist Church, the [American] Red Cross," Pence said before asking the crowd to thank the volunteers with a round of applause. Read More

• Michael survivor: 'We're all hurting down here'

  by Joe Westbury/Christian Index, posted Tuesday, October 16, 2018 (3 years ago)

  

  Photo by Keith Bowen/Special to Christian Index

  DONALSONVILLE, Ga. (BP) -- At least two southwest Georgia Baptist churches emerged heavily damaged from the eye of Hurricane Michael as it ripped through the southwest part of the state last week.

  Reports from the two congregations are just emerging as cell phone towers are slowly rebuilt and stories begin to come out from the rubble that litters the once peaceful farming communities. Rocky Ridge Baptist Church of Donalsonville, Ga., and Springfield Baptist Church in Jakin, both in Bowen Baptist Association, are uninhabitable and will be for some time.

  An insurance adjuster will be on site Wednesday morning Oct. 17 to survey the damage at Rocky Ridge, says deacon Keith Bowen. Read More

• Hurricane Michael: Baptists putting pieces together

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Monday, October 15, 2018 (3 years ago)

  

  NAMB photo by Sara Brockmann.

  PANAMA CITY, Fla.(BP) -- Freight trains overturned on the railroad tracks in Panama City, Fla. Power lines downed for miles around the Southeast. Hundreds of thousands of trees decapitated by the buzz saw named Hurricane Michael.

  Despite the carnage, many churches in Panama City and beyond held Sunday (Oct. 14) morning services just four days after Michael made landfall. Mike Claunch, pastor of St. Andrew Baptist Church, reminded his congregation, "Michael came as a surprise to us, but it wasn't a surprise to God." Read More