THE HURRICANE
A Real Life Story of Survival
"Do We Stay or Run?"
PART ONE
Then
you will become children of your Father in heaven. For He makes His sun shine on
good and bad people alike, and He sends rain to the righteous and the
unrighteous alike.
Have you ever been caught smack dab in the middle of a serious earthly disaster: earthquake, blizzard, wild fire, flood, tornado or hurricane? Thankfully, not many people have. Several have been spared the horrors of the earth’s anger toward man. That is really the way some people look at these remarkable occurrences. However, in spite of the terrible devastation, I have seen blessings come forth. I have to ask, is this earth revolting or is the God of creation warning us?
For several years,
I worked with people, believers and unbelievers, in the political realm.
I saw things that angered me. Men
and women were in high positions who could only have been there because the Lord
allowed it. I know this because they
were Hell bent and filled with contempt for humankind and the Creator.
Laws were being passed on a daily basis to control each person in the
country and their families. It
appeared as though, 25 years ago, the agenda was to turn
The area where our
family lived was rural, more of a family-oriented town, but it was growing
quickly in the opposite direction. Regretfully,
the growth pattern was not toward the good, but was cascading toward evil.
Springing up around us were bars, nightclubs, xxx-rated/girlie theaters.
Drugs and prostitution were skyrocketing.
And, the churches were not setting an example, but were actually adding
to the problem. Many of us who lived
and worked in that area of
And come down it
did. It was Sunday, August 24, 1992.
We were at a home Bible service with several friends who had left the
traditional church and decided to study as a small group.
After our meeting, we had a phone call from a friend who informed us that
Hurricane Andrew, which we thought was a small storm in the
H. Andrew at that point had a very strong eye wall. The winds were approximately 135 miles per hour. We all figured we have a few hours to prepare and decide whether to remain in our homes or make a run for it. We all knew that the wind speed would increase considerably as the storm was over open water. On the weather map, the hurricane looked like a huge monster. Just the magnitude of the winds and diameter of the storm, sent chills down everyone’s spin.
As we dismissed in
prayer, I can still remember hearing the men in the congregation discussing
their plans for evacuation. Since
Lou and I were raised in
On our way home
that day, Lou and I discussed leaving the area and heading west toward
Arriving at home we began to literally grab at certain things we felt would be seriously damaged by wind, rain and looters: computers, HAM radio equipment, legal papers, jewelry, money, etc. As I brought each item to Lou, he placed them in the trunk of our car. Then we grabbed our parrot, Dinghy, and our dog, Dui. We left the “pet door” open for our cat “Tigger” who had the run of the house and garage. Knowing she was going to be in harm’s way, we said a prayer for her. By the way, she survived quite well in the top of the loft in the garage. There was a very small area that did not lose its roof cover; she was wedged tightly in the corner behind a box of supplies. No doubt, she was horrified at the noises.
We had a few more items to secure, filling up my 9-ft sailing boat with water to keep it from blowing away, dropping the huge radio antenna which was bolted to the side of our home, putting barbeque grills inside the garage and so on.
However, I continued to feel that we were not supposed to go far from our home. Yet, Lou was adamant that we were leaving the area—that was that. No more discussion was allowed on the matter. We both knew our roof would probably not hold up to 135 mph winds and we were not sure how severe they would get given more time and water to cross in the Atlantic. I had to trust that the Lord was going to take care of us and our daughter, Leslie, and her family who lived about 30 miles from us, also in the path of H. Andrew.
I remember calling Leslie and asking her to leave with us, but she and her husband had decided to stay. I know they will never forget what they went through. Our oldest granddaughter, Jessica, was quite young at the time. A few years later, I remember her telling me about how she felt during the storm. Their home was as ours, mostly large glass windows and sliding glass doors. They don’t last long in strong winds and flying debris.
I tried one more time to convince Lou to stay, now more than ever because Leslie would not leave. He still declined my request. His “protective” mode was in full swing. I knew I had one more option. I ran into the bedroom and pleaded with the Lord to show Lou where He wanted us. Just as I finished my prayer, the phone rang. It was a neighbor, John, who had a need. He was asking Lou to help him, but I could not understand the whole of their conversation.
As soon as Lou hung up the phone, he came to me and said, “Your prayers are answered.” Puzzled, I requested an explanation. It appeared that John’s call was for assistance. He needed someone to be with him at a local Publix grocery store to stave off looters. The manager of the grocery had been told he must stay and guard it. John was to be his security guard and Lou was to join him in this service.
The grocery store
was only about 20 minutes from our home. This
answer to prayer would put us closer to home and Leslie and her family.
I knew beyond a doubt that this is why we were not supposed to go to the
west coast. We had work
to do right there in
"In the Eye of the Storm"
PART TWO
After the hustle and bustle of putting yard things in
safe areas to keep them from blowing around and causing more damage, we set out
for the small shopping center in
One thing we noticed that fateful day was all the airplanes being moved off the base. Everything was going and we soon discovered, so were the residents. According to a close friend of ours who had lived on the base, the people were told to leave and had to abandon their possessions. Many were never able to even retrieve what was left behind, as they were not permitted to return to the base. There were reports that those who had been hired to clean up areas of the base were taking the “treasures” of those who could not come back. This was not officially confirmed, but many of our friends informed us of this happening. They had no reason to lie or exaggerate.
As Lou and I drove up to the front door of the grocery store, we saw John waving us down and giving us instructions to park our car under the building’s overhang. He parked on one end and we on the other. This would afford both vehicles quite a bit of protection from winds and flying debris. It would also keep our cars in view from looters.
The afternoon was calm and there seemed to be no sign of any storm or
even rain. It was a typically warm,
balmy day in south
My friend and John’s wife, Joan, came over and we decided to set up some fallback areas in case the building should be destroyed in sections. We chose four areas. Two were closer to the front of the store and the other two were toward the rear. Because I was a HAM operator, I set up my 2-meter radio system with a make-shift antenna in the meat department. I figured this might come in handy for emergency purposes. I had worked the Dade County Emergency Network with several other HAM operators for about a year and learned many of the routines that were important for reporting emergency situations via HAM radio. Little did I know just how important that was going to be.
Joan and I grabbed a few munchies and a juice drink and settled in. Our pillows and blankets were placed between the aisles. The bird was nestled in his cage on the floor and Dui never left my side. To this day, I believe he realized something was seriously wrong, but he never told me. Typical dog.
Several invited people began coming in to the store and making their way
to a comfortable resting area. One
woman, from
I remember there being about 26 people all total in the store. This would include our neighbors, the store manager, Lou and me and several other local people and eventually two uninvited guests. Besides our parrot and dog, there were a couple of other dogs and some caged rabbits.
As the afternoon turned into early evening, the winds began to pick up. It was just that time when it isn’t really dark; one could still see the buildings and trees in the parking lot. The tall, parking-area lights had just come on. I stood at the store-front windows with Lou watching the wind in the trees and then suddenly the winds began to gust, probably to about 70 miles per hour. It wasn’t long before these gusts grew in strength, strong enough to take down those large light poles. We stood with our jaws hanging as we watched the poles literally explode in the air and drop to the ground in small pieces right before our eyes. At the same time, we could hear sheet metal banging on the roof of the building.
Within about 15 minutes, the sheet metal began tearing off in long strips allowing rain to fall in on us. We watched as more and more of the ceiling above us disappeared, exposing the steel beams that comprised the store. To our dismay, Joan and I watched our first two fallback areas disappear within minutes.
Someone in the group yelled out that a car containing two men was trying to drive up under the store’s overhang. Realizing that these men had not been invited, our worst suspicions were coming true. These guys were “early looters.” However, the tables turned on them, or should I say, the entire overhang fell in on them. Amazingly, because their car was parked in the middle of the store near the large entry doorways, the overhang fell on their car and not on anyone else’s.
The two young men, probably in their early 20’s, managed to get out of their small, squashed vehicle, and began banging on the door for us to let them in. John and Lou had “protection” with them and told the fellows they could come in, but had to obey the rules. They stated this as they brazenly displayed their “power.” The two men agreed and came in to be frisked by those in charge.
By this time, we had all begun grabbing our bedding and running to the back of the store. Most of the building was now a skeleton, no ceiling or roof, glass breaking and falling in, etc. There was only one room left. It was Joan’s and my fourth and last fallback. It was a concrete block portion of the store measuring about 10 x 15 feet. I grabbed Lou’s and my stuff from the floor, the HAM radio equipment and my 2-meter hand-held radios. Everything was getting quite wet, including us. Dui ran next to me as he was determined not to be left behind. We actually forgot about the parrot, Dinghy. He was covered up and had not felt the rain yet. Suddenly we heard him squawk and Lou had to run back to the main section of the store to try and locate him—before he blew away. It is quite difficult for a bird to fly in a cage. Somehow, Dinghy managed to survive. Lou had an emergency situation to tend to and had placed the bird on a shelf in the back of the store. Forgetting to go back and fetch him, the poor critter stayed there through the entire storm, wet and miserable, but still alive and saying, “Praise the Lord!”
As we all entered the room, we realized we had a roof over our heads, but not a very good one. The ceiling was poured concrete and it had a very large crack down the middle. Water was dripping at a high speed and had already added about 6 inches of cold water to the floor. We each stood in an area of the little room, trying to decide what to do next.
The winds were definitely picking up to what seemed to be well over 100 mph and the lights inside the store suddenly flickered off. This was the last of our lights. We now had to work by battery power.
Lou and John had charge of the entrance way and kept vigilant guard on us and our two guests, who decided the best place for them was the very corner of the room, crouching down in the water. They stayed there in that position the entire duration of the storm.
Periodically, Lou would nonchalantly look up at the ceiling crack. He realized that there was a potential for the entire thing to collapse on us. I watched him as he took some heavy steel rolling carts and began stacking them one on top of another. He would turn the top one upside down in order to make sort of a roof of protection. Then he told every two people to get inside the “steel house” facing each other. Joan and I occupied the first one. It was a bit tight fitting, especially with Dui in my lap, but we made ourselves as comfortable as possible. The other folks followed suit until the only one left was the older woman. She was given a “steel house” all her own. We could not lift her, so we had to put her and the stretcher on the cart. This was not an easy job for any of us, including the poor woman. To make things worse, she didn’t speak a word of English and was in constant pain. My simple ability to speak Spanish came in very handy that evening.
The winds were now blowing at an incredible speed. My ears were hurting me and many others were beginning to feel the pressure change. Suddenly without warning we heard this very loud bang, like a car going 30 mph ramming the back doors next to where we were sitting. These doors were solid steel and worked on huge gears. We didn’t quite know what was happening, but about every couple of minutes there was another bang and then a shudder. This sound was so loud and hard that the building began moving with each blast, similar to an earthquake. Lou was very concerned and kept a close eye on the ceiling. I know he figured the movement would cause the ceiling overhead to fall in, crushing all of us.
The people inside
this tiny room were becoming anxious and some were panicking.
They began to think this was their last day on earth.
I was beginning to wonder myself.
"Andrew's Destruction"
PART THREE
What does one do in the midst of panicking people when there is no place for anyone to run, when the world looks like it might end any second, when there appears to be no hope?
The night H. Andrew hit, I had absolutely no idea that I would have a spiritual part in comforting the people in the small concrete room. Earlier that evening as I had been reading my Bible attempting to find some comfort, I read the following verses:
He will rescue you from six disasters; yes, in seven no harm will touch you. In famine, he will save you from death, and in war, from the power of the sword. You will be shielded from the lash of the tongue, and you won't have to fear destruction when it comes - you’ll be able to laugh at destruction and famine. Also you won't have to fear wild animals, for you will be in league with the stones in the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. You will know that your tent is safe; you will look round your home and miss nothing. You will know that your descendants are many, your offspring like grass <growing thick> in the fields. You will come to your grave at a ripe old age, like a pile of grain that arrives in season. Job 5:19:26
As I read these verses, I realized that the Lord, HaShem, was talking to me personally. I sensed this with all my being. However, as the battle around us raged, I could not concentrate on what I had read; I had to think about the needs of the suffering people surrounding me. I had to help them find comfort and peace.
As many sat under their makeshift steel umbrellas
fearing the storm around them, I decided I had to do something and do it
quickly. I started singing.
I had always enjoyed music and this was the perfect opportunity to use
all the Scripture songs and hymns I had learned for many years as a Believer.
I sang my heart out and suddenly a voice joined me.
It was the dear lady who had come from
As the time went on, together we sang; we prayed; we sang some more; we quoted Scripture verses. We didn’t stop. We sang the entire duration of the storm. If we stopped for even 10 seconds, someone would quickly tap us and say, “Don’t stop.” When my new sister-in-the-Lord couldn’t sing or speak any longer, I, through the help of the Lord, continued. A few times I thought I would go completely hoarse, but finally my voice would return to me with more strength.
At one point, one of the women in the group said, “We are all going to
die.” Right then I remembered
Paul’s (Shaul’s) trip as a prisoner on the sailing vessel when he was headed
for
I told this story from the Scriptures to the people in the little room, which I now realize was more like a concrete sarcophagus, and informed them that they all would live. After saying this, I quickly gave them the gospel. To this day, I do not know who listened and who obeyed. I pray all received Yeshua as their Savior and are still “living” for Him.
After many hours in the room with the pounding blasts and dripping water, we began to hear the winds subside. With a deep concern, someone asked if we were in the eye of the storm and it was going to hit us again from the other side, coming in another direction. I have to say that my heart stopped beating for a few seconds until I grasped what they were saying and what the Lord had told me. I realized right then that a matter of trust was being requested here. I could not fear, but had to have the faith that no matter what happened, we would live. He said so.
Suddenly, my two-meter radio began to chatter and I heard a voice calling
for assistance. No one answered him,
so I pressed the button, gave my call letters, and asked him about his need.
I soon realized that it was an acquaintance of ours, a HAM operator I had
met on several occasions. He was
working at the State Prison there in
Speaking of a miracle or as some might say, “coincidence,” here is another. Normally there is no way a 2-way radio can communicate with another 2-way for a long distance unless it is through a repeater. This machine, a repeater, takes the message and repeats it to all other radios within a given area. Without this repeater, the message can only travel by line of site for a short distance. To this day, the only way I can figure we were able to communicate was because everything in that 30 mile path had been completely knocked down, opening our line of communication. And, I have no doubt that the Lord intervened in this situation.
As I communicated with my friend and delivered messages to the store manager, Lou and others packed up their goods, since they had surmised that the storm had passed us completely. We were “free to go.” The two young men who sat out the storm with us requested permission to leave. Lou’s words to them were, “Go, and don’t do this again. That was a warning.” They hung their heads and walked off.
As everyone said their good-byes, I looked up and saw a terrible sight. A young man who had worked at the grocery store came staggering up. He was sliced all over his body and was weary and frightened. When we asked him what had happened, he said he lived in one of the trailers at the trailer park near the airbase. As the storm intensified, his home began to fall apart before his eyes. He stated that his only place of refuge was a telephone pole outside of his trailer. He clung to it the entire night through the storm’s fury. The cuts were from pieces of sheet metal from other trailers that were being thrown at him like darts to a dart board. I’ve often wondered if he had a long talk with the Creator during that time.
As Lou and I departed, we slowly traveled down the four-lane highway that leads to the airbase and our home. Suddenly I saw a sight I will never forget. On the opposite side of the road was a black pickup truck. It was upside down, flattened and completely entwined in heavy electric cable from one of the main concrete feeder poles, which were in a long line through miles of farm land. It was a horrible sight. As we looked up above the truck we could see the line of huge concrete poles, which were twisted into pretzels with their cables wrapped all around them in knots.
On the last leg of
our return home, Lou informed me that he had made a pact with John that whoever
still had a house standing, that is where we would all live until we could make
other arrangements. All of a sudden
reality hit. We might have lost
everything! I couldn’t believe it.
What would we do now? The
thought actually confused me and made me sick to my stomach.
We were only minutes from our home and I knew I was going to see nothing
but destruction. How could I
possibly face what was coming?
"Few Buildings Were Left Standing, Especially the Trailer Park."
PART FOUR
“Wow!”
I thought to myself. The house was not completely gone. From
the direction we drove in, it appeared that the entire house was in one piece.
All I could see was one window in the front with a curtain hanging
outside. This told me the window
glass was broken and there was water damage in that room.
Our other car, which was sitting in front of the garage, had a tree going
completely through it from one side to the other.
All the plants, trees and
bushes, in the yard were gone. But
the house looked fine. That is until
we opened the front door. There was
nothing behind it. Our home was like
the
As we entered the wet, mushy mess, I could feel more nausea coming my way. The smells were horrible and the heat and humidity incredible. I began to sob. The reason--John and Lou had already gone to John’s house and it was completely intact except for one small window in a bathroom. I couldn’t believe it. Our home was gone and his remained. What happened to the words, “You will laugh at destruction”? I began to get angry and actually looked up sideways to the Lord and said, “I’m not laughing. This is NOT funny.”
Just about that time one of ours neighbors came over to tell us about
their situation. He was very
concerned as he had sent his wife and children to
As I was walking out the door, our neighbor stated that his phone was working and if we needed to make phone calls, we were welcome to do so. Lou motioned that he would retrieve the insurance papers from the car’s trunk and I could make the phone call, while he figured out what our plan of action would be.
When I arrived at our neighbor’s home, I could see that most everything had blown away. What remained were wet, mushy carpets, clothing, furniture and the like. Everything was soaked and filthy.
There was already a
line forming to make phone calls, so my neighbor suggested I join them.
I was number 7 behind 6 people. As
I sat there with papers in hand, I listened as each person dialed their
insurance company. No one was able
to get through. The lines were all
busy. My turn.
I dialed and waited. The
phone rang and a dear older lady answered the phone.
She requested my insurance policy number and a few others things.
Then she began telling me where to send my husband to pick up the money
for our loss-of-use expenses, as our home was not livable.
She also mentioned that adjusters would be by to appraise the home,
contents and property. As she stated
each item, I could see lights going off in my head.
I began to laugh. I think I
made the poor woman uneasy as she stated, “You certainly are a happy one with
all this destruction around you.” Right
then, I remembered the verse, “You will laugh at destruction.”
And, laugh I did. We were
finally going to
The story does not end here.
There were actually miracles after miracles that occurred in the five
days in
Should miracles end? Never! My life has been filled to the brim with them. I can attribute them to no one else by HaShem, the Lord of all creation, my God and my King.
Stick around. Someday I’ll probably write even more stories about those great times when it seemed there was no hope. But I’ve found out through many very hard trials, when one knows the Lord Yeshua/Jesus personally and submits to Him fully, there is ALWAYS hope.
EPILOGUE
I know that several
things were left out of this story. For
example, many homes were totally destroyed or just plain gone, nothing left but
the foundation. And, the fact that
trailer parks completely disappeared from the face of the earth.
Or, how about the vast numbers of people who died that were not ever
reported by the media. Most people
have no idea that the Seminole Indians who live in grass huts in the
And, should I also add that the government agencies that were supposed to help all the victims didn’t show up. We never saw a soul and we were dead in the storm’s path. We did hear of someone dumping incredible amounts of clothing at the airbase, only for the rain to drench it. It is our understanding that bull dozers came days later and bulldozed the smelly clothes into a ditch or something. Where it was dumped was not completely clear, but the clothing was disposed of and never used.
Water? Well, we learned quickly about availability of water. When I first arrived at the house, I noticed that the water was turned off. Knowing a little about the water system in our area, I went out to the main shut-off and turned it back on. Waa-laa…I had water. Naturally I wouldn’t have drunk the stuff, but I still found out water was flowing in the pipes. However, within about 10 minutes a man in a suit, no less, showed up at our door demanding to know who turned on the water. Uhhh-gee, I don’t know. He read me the riot act and returned to his job of turning the water off.
Because my husband was a firefighter/paramedic, the local fire department sent a truck and several firefighters to our home with all sorts of supplies and roofing material. They had come to help. No one else took the time and certainly not those who say “We are from the government and we are here to help you.”
I remember one fellow in our neighborhood who realized the dire need of the people. We went days without water; it was very hot, muggy from humidity and we smelled lovely, not like roses. This caring fellow set up his cement pump by the canal behind his home and pumped water so people could come to his yard and shower. The charge? A can of oil for his pump. That was the best shower I ever had. We put the women and girls on one side of the yard and men and boys on the other. Everyone showered in bathing suits with a sheet strung across a line as sort of a privacy screen.
One other thing that comes to mind was that many people had large amounts of frozen food going to waste. So, those of us with barbeque grills cooked the food and invited all the neighbors to dine. What a wonderful “after the hurricane party.” We even met neighbors we had never talked to in 12 years.
Our daughter and her family survived the storm. They were unhurt, except for the fear that ran through their minds during the storm, but their home was destroyed. They were able to fix it and also purchase another home with their insurance money. After the hurricane, many people just wanted out of the area, so they were practically giving their homes away. It was a “let me out of here” situation. Several people bought these homes, repaired them and sold them for a good profit when the market for the area changed.
There were many who didn’t do well when it came to insurance and repairing their homes. The price of materials seemed to suddenly increase. Zoning rules changed for the worse. Nails, glass and other obstacles were all over the road making them impassable or giving people constant flat tires. Just trying to fix a roof or a fence, not to mention windows, cost twice as much or more than it did before the storm.
Trash was
everywhere and mountains of it stood alongside roads for quite some time.
With no plants, destroyed homes, mounds of trash, no electricity or water
for months,
Many people became sick during this time. One doctor who spoke to a friend of mine informed her that he had contracted Lupus and many of his patients had also acquired the disease. There was also a deep concern about the number of planes flying over the area each day spraying what the residents were told was mosquito repellant.
I have to stop here and thank the hundreds of people who gave of their time, money and energy to help those in need. You were brave souls! I know many people were being robbed or killed after the storm, mostly for the junk they had left in their broken down homes. Everything you did was appreciated. And, since I was there, I can say I appreciated each one of you. You were a blessing to so many helpless, tired and discouraged people.
Thank you to my Dad
for helping us get packed up and moved out of the mess within two days.
He brought his small trailer and helped me pick up what pieces we could
find in the rubble and tote it back to east-central
Thank you to my Mother and late Grandmother for setting up a storage unit for me to put all the “stuff”’ in, while Lou and I figured out our next plan.
Thank you to my
cousin Biff (Bruce) who loaned us one of his large furniture trucks from this
business in South Dade and two men to go with us to east-central
Thank you to John and Joan for so many things including helping us out with a place to live. They were right there when we needed the help.
Thank you to our neighbors Phil and Gay for allowing us to use their telephone; the only one in the entire neighborhood that worked.
Thank you to all the men and women volunteers from the Dade County Fire Department who were right there with water and building materials. They were so willing to help.
Thank you to all who showed their love by being there and giving of themselves. You were and are totally appreciated!
Shalom shalom!
Kathie Palladino
www.kitchen2.com