Hurricane Irma Storms Toward U.S., Jonathan Falwell and Wife Survive Devastation on St. Martin

Gary Lane : Sep 7, 2017
CBN News

Thomas Road Baptist Church Pastor Jonathan Falwell surprised his wife with a wedding anniversary trip to St. Martin. They were trapped on the island when the hurricane hit.

[CBN News] Hurricane Irma barreled through the southern Caribbean on its way toward the U.S., packing 180 mile-per-hour sustained winds, bringing death and destruction to Barbuda, and submerged streets to the island of St. Martin. (Photo: Devastation of St. Martin/ Twitter/via CBN News)

Irma has left at least 10 dead and thousands homeless on those islands.

Thomas Road Baptist Church Pastor Jonathan Falwell surprised his wife with a wedding anniversary trip to St. Martin. They were trapped on the island when the hurricane hit.

He posted photos of the destruction on social media and tweeted, "We are safe. No power, everything destroyed. Buildings gone. Please pray as this island is decimated."

Heavy rain hammered Puerto Rico and caused power outages affecting one million people. More than a thousand sought safety in shelters there. Parts of the island could be without power for four to six months.

In the Florida Keys, 25,000 people have already been evacuated. Mandatory evacuations took place in some Miami neighborhoods and traffic jams on some evacuation routes were commonplace.

Florida Keys resident Elizabeth Prieto was among those leaving. "I've been through George, I've been through Andrew, I've been through Wilma but I'm not staying for Irma," she insisted.

Evacuees from the Florida and Georgia coasts are seeking refuge in hotel rooms in central Georgia. Most are sold out.

Florida Governor Rick Scott warned people to find a safe place. "Every Floridian should take this seriously and be aggressive to protect their family. Possessions can be replaced, your family cannot," he warned.

Floridians emptied store shelves of water, milk and bread and waited in long gas lines to fill up their fuel tanks. Evacuee Ian Craig waited in line only to discover there was nothing to buy.

"Gas is running out everywhere right now so I'm just a little too late trying to get it I guess," he said.

The latest storm track shows Irma downgrading to a still-powerful Category 4 storm, possibly making landfall, or skirting by Florida's east coast and then moving up to the Georgia coast and South Carolina.

Irma could cause a great deal of damage, just as Hurricane Harvey did when it flooded parts of Texas.

That would mean more disaster relief spending from Washington where President Trump struck a deal with Democrats Wednesday to raise the government's debt ceiling—a deal that included relief funding to help after Harvey.

CBN's Operation Blessing is working in Texas to help people recover from Harvey.

And as it did before Harvey, O.B. is busy preparing for potential disaster in Florida.

Truckloads of water and food supplies are now being staged at its Ocala, Florida warehouse.

That means Operation Blessing volunteers will be ready to move into action whenever and wherever Hurricane Irma makes landfall.