Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Heading down to Florida..... AGAIN!

Well, tomorrow morning @ 6am, my team and I will be heading down to Florida, again, to begin our six week project with Habitat for Humanity. It won't be a typical project--we will be doing exterior repair for all the homes that were affected by Hurricane Wilma. For those of you who don't know much about Wilma, here's some 411:

Hurricane Wilma Category 5 hurricane

Hurricane Wilma at record intensity southeast of the Yucatán Peninsula on October 19, 2005.
Formed October 15, 2005
Dissipated October 25, 2005
Highest winds 175 mph (280 km/h) sustained
Lowest pressure 882 mbar (hPa) (Lowest pressure ever recorded in an Atlantic hurricane)
Damages $18-22 billion (2005 USD)
Fatalities 28 direct, 32 indirect
Areas affected Jamaica, Haiti, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Yucatán Peninsula, Florida, Bahamas, Atlantic Canada

There is a ton of work to be done in the Fort Myers area as it was one of the ares most heavily hit by Wilma. Although Katrina and Rita really caught the nations attention because of so many other contributing factors, there was extensive damage to parts of Florida because of Wilma and unfortunately, not many people are aware of the destruction in that part of the country. I think sometimes the media chooses to focus on the "hot topics"--race and poverty, which are valid and should be discussed. However, there are a lot of people in Florida who have been suffering for a long time because of the storms of the past two years. Whether or not you agree with their choice of residency isn't the point--continue to pray and support (if you can) those who have lost so much to things beyond their control.

In other news, Gold Rush has taken a hit this past weekend. Our teammate, my dear friend, Whitney Petters has left NCCC (personal reasons). She will be missed terribly and it will not be the same without her.

Finally, I am throwing it out there that I will be turning 24 this Sunday. I'm a little freaked out about it (not going to lie). So please, if you remember and decide to give me a shout out, please avoid the following words: old, grandma, senile, history, can't, ancient and the like.... :) I realize that it's not the end of the world, but I'm just a little sensitive!!!!

Grace and Peace

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