Nicole’s e-Pistle

October 16, 2024

Hello again, Friends!

We are back from our trip to Florida. We had a lovely day at the beach not far from Panama City in the panhandle, well away from Hurricane Milton, then traveled south to visit our families and assess the damage. We are so grateful that they only sustained minimal damage to tree limbs and lots of Spanish moss! (We were even more grateful they had already cleaned it up by the time we got there!… Just kidding!)

On Friday, the traffic headed east on I-10 was bumper to bumper! Floridians were flooding back into the state to get to their homes and loved ones. After almost five hours, we abandoned the interstates and had an enjoyable drive down Highway 19. It was interesting to see the damage caused by Helene in North Florida, then have areas that were largely unaffected by either storm before getting into the Tampa Bay area, which had just been hit by Milton. The biggest concern as we came into Pasco and Polk Counties was the lack of gasoline. In a mixture of preparation and panic, people had bought out the entire stock of every gas station we passed. Luckily, we had kept our tank filled at every opportunity and still had over half a tank to get us all the way to DeSoto County.

As we were leaving the state yesterday, the far-left lane was (usually) reserved for personal vehicles while the two right lanes were packed with convoys of electric company linemen’s trucks, 18-wheelers, and gasoline tankers. Everywhere we traveled throughout the week, there were packs of linemen working on electric poles and downed power lines. We heard reports that the governor had brought in linemen from states all over the country to get power up and running as quickly as possible. The influx of traffic on interstate yesterday was many of those groups heading home.

The quick response in Florida makes me think of the people heading into Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, though those efforts are made far more difficult by flooding and the destruction of mountain roads. When I hear people ask why God does not perform miracles in the modern age, I think of times of crisis when people put their differences aside and come together to put lives back together. If I had any doubt that God was at work in the world, it was swept to the curb along with the raked-up limbs and moss in Floridians’ front yards. If I had any waning hope for the common decency of humanity, it has been re-energized by seeing hundreds of linemen travel from all over the U.S. to get electricity running for people they had never met, not to mention through the stories I continue to hear of people helping people in the Appalachian Mountains.

Friends, I return from vacation refreshed, grateful, hopeful, and excited to be with you again!

May God continue to bless you all!