COCOA BEACH, Fla. (ABP) — Hurricane Frances, historic in size if not strength, crossed all three coasts of Florida over Labor Day weekend, damaging buildings — including several churches — and leaving an estimated 5 million people without power.
This second major hurricane to pound the state in 23 days moved slower than Hurricane Charley, the more powerful category 4 storm that slashed the state from southwest to northeast on Friday, Aug. 13. But the size and longevity of Frances — more than 250 miles across and 30-plus hours in duration — stretched the state's resources and nerves to the limit. The category 2 hurricane, forced the evacuation of a record 2.8 million people and at times covered the entire Florida peninsula.
At Cocoa Beach, midway down the Atlantic Coast, Frances crept ashore Sunday, Sept. 5, with 100 mph winds, tearing the steeple off First Baptist Church and spearing the roof of the sanctuary. The church, one block form the ocean, suffered other serious damage. But no one was injured — including church member Dave Guise, who rode out the storm inside the church in an effort to protect the building.
Frances was downgraded to a tropical storm as it slowly crossed the state from southeast to northwest Sept. 5. It exited into the Gulf of Mexico north of Tampa, only to regain strength and pound the Florida Panhandle with more wind and rain.
Meanwhile, more than 100 Baptist disaster-relief teams from across the southern United States waited less than patiently in Alabama and Georgia for the weather to clear enough to enter Florida and add their help to the feeding and recovery effort. The largest Baptist disaster-relief mobilization ever, which includes 40 mobile kitchens, was preparing to feed a million meals a week to Florida residents without electricity.
Despite the massive scale of Hurricane Frances, Floridians were relieved that the storm — a category 4 storm with 145 mph winds when it slammed into the Bahamas — weakened to a category 2 before the eye made landfall near Ft. Pierce. Even the drenching rain and flooding was not as bad as expected in most parts of the state. But Polk County and other parts of Central Florida — where the paths of Charley and Frances intersected — endured the second major hurricane of the month.
As one Orlando resident was making preparations to move his family, including his elderly mother and mother-in-law, out of Orlando ahead of Frances, he said, “Here we go again.… Just when we were thinking that life could return to normal, it looks like we're in for another uncomfortable ride.”
Meanwhile, forecasters began warning of Ivan, another category 4 hurricane, on course perhaps to strike Florida later in the week.
President George Bush declared 18 counties major disaster areas in Frances' wake. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, warned of major gasoline shortages across the state and pleaded with residents to be patient with authorities who are seeking to manage relief and recovery services.
The American Red Cross reported 108,000 evacuees spent at least part of the day Sept. 5 in 249 shelters. Over 7,000 Red Cross volunteers were mobilized, making this the largest disaster-relief response in the charity's history. Florida recorded only three known deaths related to Frances — the Bahamas two.
In Ormond Beach, 70 miles north of Cocoa Beach and a couple miles inland, the roof on a Pentecostal church blew off and laid in pieces, soaking in the flooded parking lot. In nearby Daytona Beach, trees and buildings suffered moderate damage but First Baptist Church and Central Baptist Church escaped mostly unharmed.
Sonja Phillips, co-pastor of Central Baptist, said she hadn't inspected the church yet because of other needs. “We've been dealing with stuff at home, mostly flooding,” she said. She knew of one church family that lost the roof of its house. Three weeks earlier, two other families lost roofs to Hurricane Charley as it exited the state. But the spirits of church members remain high, Phillips said. “People have said, 'We're going to be OK.' There's a lot of hope.”
Phillips, a newcomer to the state, said, “From the spirit I've seen in Florida, you just go on. You deal with it. … I think they'll be strong, but they're worried about the next hurricane.”
In Melbourne, 20 miles south of Cocoa Beach, three dozen members of First Baptist Church rode out Frances by barricading themselves in the four-year-old concrete block building, beginning about 1 p.m. on Friday. They joined members of the church's Haitian mission and everyone shared food they had brought — shrimp, scallops, linguine and clams.
The church escaped unharmed, except for the loss of power, even though other parts of Melbourne received moderate damage. When the storm was over, the huddled congregation gathered for what Pastor Larry Bazer called a “catacomb service,” much like the early New Testament church, reported church member Billie Norczyk.
The Melbourne church was expected to serve as operations site for the North Carolina Baptist Feeding Unit, one of 14 Southern Baptist mobile feeding kitchens expected to line the 1-95 corridor beginning Sept 6.
Florida Baptists' three mobile feeding units were expected to take up a position in Stuart, another hard-hit city further south on the Atlantic Coast, after spending three weeks in North Port after Hurricane Charley. Three Kentucky Baptist feeding units were expected to arrive this week in Port Charlotte and Wauchula to continue feeding Hurricane Charley victims and relief workers. However, it was unclear Sept. 6 where the 100-plus volunteers from Texas, who spent three days waiting in Mobile, Ala., will be deployed.
Meanwhile, a four-person survey team from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is probing damaged sites in the state looking for appropriate staging areas. Paul Thibodeaux, who is coordinating the CBF effort, said two rapid-response teams from Georgia likely will move to Florida Sept. 7.
If Hurricane Ivan follows the path of Frances, as some are predicting, don't expect to find Dave Guise hiding out in the sanctuary of First Baptist of Cocoa Beach. Guise spent most of the night crouched in a hallway at the bottom of the stairs leading to the sanctuary, thinking he could help protect the structure in the event of fire or other danger.
At 1 a.m., as the massive building creaked and groaned under the relentless winds, a thunderous crash drew the man to the church sanctuary, where the massive steeple broke off from its foundation and plunged through the roof to rest on the church's balcony.
“It was very scary,” Guise said. “I don't think I will ever do that again. I think I'd rather fight a war than to have to endure that.”
The steeple is a landmark in the Cocoa Beach community, said church deacon Don Johnson. Pilots from nearby Patrick Air Force Base are said to line up for the runway using the steeple as a navigational tool. Base officials offered to repair the tower light when it once burned out.
Lori Bazemore of Cocoa Beach and her two young children returned from evacuation Sept. 6 to their home in the shadow of the steeple. The small original sanctuary next door to the church had been converted into apartments, including hers. Her home was undamaged.
Bazemore, who attended the church occasionally, said the congregation's good reputation will help it now. “They're great people. Pastor Ken is awesome,” said Bazemore, whose daughter previously attended the church's daycare center.
“If everybody sees this,” she said pointing to the broken steeple, “they're going to help.”
-30-
— Barbara Denman, John Hall and Tim Norton contributed to this story.
— Photos available on the ABP website.