LADY LAKE, Fla. (ABP) — Within hours after killer tornadoes tore gashes across central parts of Florida Feb. 2, Florida Baptist disaster-relief teams were mobilized with chainsaws in hand to help victims.
The violent storm system, which spawned as many as five early-morning tornadoes, left 20 people dead and four counties in states of emergency.
“It was the scariest thing I have ever been through,” Rusty Freitay, a member of First Baptist Church of Lady Lake, Fla., who was in his trailer at the Lady Lake Mobile Home Park when a tornado touched down there around 3 a.m. Freitay, who is a also a member of the Lake County Baptist Association disaster-relief team, and his dog survived. His brother pulled them out of the wrecked home and took them to safety.
But by 12:30 p.m. the same day, Freitay was back on site and had joined his disaster-relief team in clearing trees downed on his neighbors' homes.
By noon on Feb. 2, the disaster-relief teams from the association as well as neighboring Marion County Baptist Association were on the scene, assessing damage and clearing debris. Florida Baptist disaster-relief officials also activated teams from the Alachua, Harmony, Lafayette, Greater Orlando, Shiloh and South Florida associations as well. In total, approximately 220 Baptist volunteers were mobilized.
The mobile home park where Freitay lived and the homes on the surrounding streets were devastated, with pieces of the residents' lives strewn across roads and downed trees. Children's toys and family photographs lay soaked and tattered atop piles of wood and metal.
The storm's force actually lifted many of the mobile homes from their concrete pads and tossed them through the air, demolishing them. Those homes that did remain standing had tree and water damage that rendered them uninhabitable. With nowhere to go and no means of helping themselves, victims sat on the ground beside the rubble of their lives and waited for help.
The Tukes family — John, Linda and their six children — were home when the storm came through their neighborhood, located behind the Lady Lake Mobile Home Park. They weathered the fierce winds without injury — but when they surveyed they damage at daybreak, they knew their home had not fared as well. All of the trees in their yard had fallen, taking down their fence and putting a hole through their living room ceiling. “We didn't know what we were going to do,” said Linda Tukes.
Roy Henderson and members of his disaster-relief team from the Ocala and Leesburg, Fla., area, came to the Tukes' rescue. They worked with the family to clear debris and cover the roof with tarps.
When they had completed that job on the afternoon of Feb. 2, the volunteers formed a prayer circle with the family. Bob Vanderventer, a member of the team, led the group in a tearful prayer for the Tukes' safekeeping and salvation.
The family was all smiles as they thanked the disaster-relief team and hugged them goodbye.
“This is why we're here,” said Henderson as he held up a disaster-relief tract that outlined the road to salvation. “We would help them all if we could.”
Fritz Wilson, director of disaster relief and recovery for the Florida Baptist Convention, said his group had teams operating in the towns of DeLand, Lady Lake and Lake Mack. “This will be primarily a clean-up mission. We have already made a tremendous impact, with over 50 jobs completed.”
In areas like Lack Mack, where most homes are not salvageable, disaster relief is providing other aid. “We are providing food supplies to First Baptist Church [of] Paisley[, Fla.], where they are sheltering victims from the Lake Mack area and will continue for as long as needed,” said Wilson.
Florida Baptist workers have established command centers at First Baptist Church of DeLand and First Baptist Church of Leesburg. Wilson said his organization also gained access to another hard-hit area, New Smyrna Beach, on Feb. 4 and may put some teams there.
Baptist state conventions in Mississippi and North Carolina have pledged their support and are sending funds to help with the operation.
While no churches have reported severe damage, Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center did experience some storm damage at its North Campus. Pieces of the metal roof of the center's pump house were scattered among limbs from many substantial oaks and great pines that were felled. Four of the campus' dorms suffered roof and window damage, and the campus chapel lost its steeple. It landed 30 feet behind the structure, on the shore of Lake Yale.
A group of campers on mission from across the nation were staying in recreational vehicles on the Lake Yale South Campus when the tornado went through. “Had the tornado been on the South Campus, it would have wiped us out,” said Glenda Tumbleson, a camper from Missouri. “You can't tell me God's not taking care of us.” Tumbleson and the other campers began helping to clear debris and make repairs at the North Campus early Friday morning.
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— Lauren Urtel is a news writer for the Florida Baptist Convention.