Yesterday Ron and two other men from our church set off at the crack of dawn - 5.30am - in the dark to a small town in upstate NY. A good portion of this town, 25% or so, was flooded during Hurricane Irene which passed us by. We heard of a fellow church member in this wee town, Schohare, through the Orthodox Presbyterian grapevine. He and others were badly affected, being without flood insurance since their town has never flooded, period. He and his wife were away visiting family when the flood hit so were unable to move possessions to safety. They also spent 3 days waiting to get back home because of the flight delays caused by the storm. {By the way it's Ron here now}The local creek flooded to 26 feet (previous high was 16 feet) so they had 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water in their ground floor. All furniture, electrical appliances, books, musical instruments (grand piano in the family for three generations), huge sheet music collection, etc. etc. were destroyed. The lower storey of Frank's 1850's house (that's him pictured on the right)


The community spirit is really quite wonderful in the town as well. One of the local churches puts on a (free)hot meal for all residents and volunteers. They have done so every day since the flood hit. Many of the families surrounding the town prepare meals and bring them to town and just drive around the streets handing out the food. The nearest operating restaurant is about 6 miles (9.6 km) away so you can see the need for this sort of support. It was a tiring day but a real blessing to meet and become friends with this very brave and resolute Godly man.
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