Storm Damage Information on the Bahamas from the Tennessee Conference's Abe McIntyre -- Hurricane Ike Monday Update

Monday, September 8th

Hurricane Ike has now done it's Bahamian damage and is now off to Cuba and the Gulf Coast. In his path he has left many people wet, hungry, homeless, roofless and wondering when help will arrive. With this in mind, and the knowledge that he has a long destructive path in front of him I ask that you all continue to pray for those that lie directly in his projected path. At this point, Hurricane Ike will be headed right up the entire length of Cuba.

After church today at Trinity UMC in Gainesville, FL, I spoke with a good friend of mine who had just returned from a mission trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As we spoke about their devastation I could not help but think about the desperate situation that these two countries and Cuba are in, and what lies ahead of them. Then after getting home and reading the news updates I could not get over the fact that thousands have not eaten in days and major flooding is going on throughout the countries. I then felt guilty that we were focusing on a couple small islands in the southern part of the Bahamas. But after a few conversations, I came to realize that there are many persons and organizations that will be and are already focusing on these larger countries. But how many people have ever heard of the island of Inagua or Ragged Island? These small forgotten islands do not have the support that other countries have and it is our calling as Bahamas Methodist Habitat to take care of our brothers and sisters on our family islands. We are looking into ways of serving in the Turks and Caicos but at this point we will focus our efforts on our Bahamian islands that have been most affected. The BCMC has also started a clothes, food, and supply donation drive in Nassau to begin sending to Haiti. This will hopefully be of assitance to the Haitians that have lost everything.

The latest update from our BCMC Central Command:

It is too soon to tell the total extent of damage to the southern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos (T&C's are the next country south in the Caribbean). From what we have been told, there have been no deaths in the Bahamas! Praise the Lord. However, major damage was sustained in the T&Cs and Inagua. 75-80% of the roofs in T&C's have been damaged and there is a great possibility that the same kind of damage has occured in Inagua. Lots of the infrastructure has been knocked out and it is nearly impossible to communicate with them.

The BCMC believes that NEMA will fly our Prime Minister down to asses the damage tomorrow (Monday, weather dependent and possible flooding on airport) and upon return will inform the nations response teams, like ourselves, about what the immediate needs are. We hope that they will have this information out by Tuesday morning. We will then know how best to respond...tarps, food, plwood and shingles, water, etc....or all of the above. We feel confident NEMA will provide a lot of the immediate needs but BMH will be able to serve over the long haul by rebuilding the homes, churches and schools that have been damaged. This assesment will take time and we definitely do not want to rush in without a plan so your patience is greatly appreciated.

As a reminder, for those volunteers that are still able and willing to go, you will have to be at least 110% self sufficient. We can not expect anything to be on the ground waiting for us when we reach the islands.

Remember to send in your Angel Flight personal info if you would like to fly down with them.

We do not have any pictures of the damage but as soon as we do, we will pass them on to you.

Abe's Plans:
I will be Orlando all day Monday and possibly leaving Tuesday morning, out of New Smyrna Beach, FL, to go back to the Bahamas with one of our favorite pilots, Dave Spangler in his Piper Aztec.

Promotional Tour:
To all of you that I have appointments with in regards to our promotional tour, I have been instructed to cut my trip short and take up my position back in the Bahamas. I am disappointed that I will not be able to come see and meet with each of you but God has a different plan for me this time. I thank you for your understanding and will be in touch with you soon about rescheduling. For those of you who were not on the promotional tour but would like for me to come speak to your church, youth group, community service club, etc, please let me know asap so when I reschedule my return trip I will be able to come spread the word about BMH.

Donations:
We will be getting a list of needed supplies out to you as soon as we know what is needed. In the meantime I will be buying tarps, batteries and flashlights to take back to the Bahamas in the plane with us and any other items I can fit in the plane with us.To continually support the BMH ministry, especially in this tough time, you can DONATE your much needed funds to http://www.bahamashabitat.org/wordpress/?page_id=81

Island info:
Inagua:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inagua

Grand Turks and Caicos:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/tk.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turks_and_Caicos_Islands

Thank you all for continuing prayers...keep'em coming!Peace and Love.

Abe

Please do not read Bahamas Methodist Habitat as only a "Methodist" ministry. We are an Outreach Ministry of the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church (BCMC) and are open and ready to serve, and serve with, any and everyone, no matter what denomination they are, if any.

Abraham (Abe) McIntyre
Executive Director Bahamas Methodist Habitat
Camp Symonette, James Cistern
Eleuthera, Bahamas
615-469-7974 USA
242-335-6210 Camp
242-422-9318 Cell
www.MethodistHabitat.org

Relieving Disaster, Promoting Community