AM 1400 * 94.5 FM
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"Storm Warnings"
September 12,
2004
Dear Praying
Friends,
Greetings in
the Name of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ! Someone sent us these
verses shortly before the hurricane hit which were a
comfort and blessing to us... Psa 95:5 - The sea is His
and He made it... ; Psa 93:3 (NIV) - The seas have lifted up; O Lord, the
seas
have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their sounding waves.
Psa 93: 4 (KJV) - The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many
waters. Yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Psa 94: 14, 22 (NIV) - For
the Lord will not reject his people, He will never forsake His
inheritance...the Lord has become my fortress and my God the rock in whom I
take refuge.
This is a
special report to update you on conditions in the aftermath of Hurricane
Ivan. The picture to the right shows Ivan several hours before
devastating Grenada. Little did anyone realize how dangerous this storm
really was. It was expected to arrive early in the morning of the 7th but
it slowed down. It began to get dark early in the morning. The winds began
to be blustery. Several people called to say "this is not that bad - where
are the winds and rain they were talking about?" I replied, "it has only
just begun!" "It will get much worse!" I did not realize how much "worse"
it would be. For us here in Carriacou it was not as bad as it was in
Grenada. We have talked to a number of people in Grenada in the last
several days and they tell a terrifying tale of wreckage and looting; of a
shortage of food and water; of selfishness and selflessness. We have not
heard from everyone we would like to know about but we have been delighted
to hear from many of our listeners and friends that they are Ok for now.
 My
family and McPhersons decided to take refuge in the radio station. The
Louis' stayed home - they live in the concrete basement of a large house.
Mama C and Abby stayed in Mama C's house in Top Hill. They planned to go to
the concrete basement of that house. The Littles decided to stay home
also. I was somewhat concerned about them since their house is old but
there is a basement... They ended up going to the
designated shelter. for Mt. Pleasant. The school was our most
vulnerable building and Brother Linus & I "strapped" the roof down with
1x4's & long screws. The ladies worked inside to
bunch all the furniture together and cover everything with plastic. I felt
pretty sure the roof would be blown off - especially after a couple of ridge
pieces came off in the preliminary gusty winds. In
the end, the roof stayed on and only loosing a few pieces of galvanize.
There was a lot of water in the building but a plastic tarp protected the
books and furniture from damage. Our house came through fine,
Little's house was fine, Mama C's rented house in Top Hill was fine but had
some water coming in. The Louis house was fine but with some water
coming in. McPhersons had the most damage of the staff houses with
shingles off and water in two bedrooms wetting everything. The
Missions house was fine, also. Thank you for your prayers!
We
activated our own "EBS" system on Sunday evening (there
is no official EBS)
and began issuing every advisory on the air early Monday morning, on VHF
marine 16 and to the local disaster preparedness office.
We secured our houses, the school and the missions house as
best we could. The station was
also secured with the hurricane shutters and by 9PM Monday, my family
was all here at the station. Here is an excerpt of my "quick" log of the
events as they unfolded.
Monday Mama c @ home with Abby downstairs -(no Comm. with them during entire H'cane) Littles @ home - ok Louis' home -Ok Robinson's home - ok Mc Phersons secure their house & evacuate To HLW @12AM winds begin To pick up Tuesday
Winds picking up by 4-5Am
- near Storm force. 11AM- Storm to h'force winds - phones (& therefore internet) go down, 106.3 FM C 'cou radio Station goes down, GBN gov. Radio goes down - both 105.5FM and 535AM. 2PM report received via SMS from Jonathan - Digicel only Cell service on
6pm- initial reports of devastation in St. Geo. - roofs off in islands from st. Lucia to Tobago Heavy rain begins 8PM - heavy rain, storm force winds Continue 10 pm McPhersons go out to check their home & others - roof leaking but still on -attempt to go up G'bay but to much debris on road-return to spend night at HLW @ midnight Wednesday 12am- heavy rains & storm force winds Continue Nearly 9 inches of rain so far - mostly after H 'cane 7AM -trying to establish radio contact with disaster prep. People to receive announcements etc.
For many it was a harrowing experience. We praise the Lord for the sanctuary and refuge of the station which was built with hurricanes in mind. The Lord is our refuge in any situation and we never felt anxious or afraid at all. The tower, buildings, generators and diesel storage units all came through fine. The Harbour Light stayed on the air throughout the entire hurricane period - 60 hours without interruption. From the vantage point of the station, which is somewhat removed from the rest of the village, we could not see what was taking place less than a mile away....
These pictures are all taken in Mt. Pleasant and Grand Bay - where we live and where the Harbour Light is located.
There was even a "refugee" that sought refuge at the Harbour Light. We don't have birds like this here... I wonder if he was blown with the hurricane from Trinidad or Tobago. He seemed stunned but was OK and flew off after a few hours. The children were delighted to find him and wanted to keep him as a pet!
Several days before the hurricane we began raising the alert. Many warnings were issued. Some heeded the warnings. Many ignored the warnings. Some people were saying "God is a Grenadian, He won't let it come here." "We have heard many warnings before and prepared - and all for nothing." Sounds like the chatter surrounding the coming storm of God's wrath - "where is the promise of His coming!" We have tried to parallel this storm with that one and the need for people to prepare. We have a sign out on our fence at home which reads "Prepare to meet thy God." Please pray for the people of Grenada, Carriacou & Pitit Martinique as they rebuild. Pray for the Lord to supply the food, building materials and determination to get things back in order.
Pray most of all that many will heed this spiritual "storm warning" and run to the only Refuge, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is why the Harbour Light is here - so that men and women will be prepared and waiting and watching and working and...
Spreading the WORD, Randy Cornelius & Staff Prov. 3:5-6
The seas have lifted up; O Lord, the
seas have lifted up their voice;
If a calamity occurs in a city has not the
LORD done it? (Amos 3:6b)
More pictures.... click here!
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