Karen Stripling and her elderly father miraculously rode out Hurricane Michael, but were left without supplies. A rabbi came to their rescue.
Hurricane Michael may have come and gone, but for Chabad's outposts along the Florida Panhandle, the action is just starting to swirl.
For Chabad of Tallahassee, Rabbi Shneur and Chanie Oirechmanand family have been serving as an emergency beacon to the greater community despite some damage to their own outreach center and temporary loss of power.
The day after the destructive winds blew through, Rabbi and Mrs. Oirechman took a steady stream of calls from locals and their out-of-state relatives alike.
"Most needed food and water," he said. "Some needed shelter. Many were calling to ask Chabad to track down loved ones who hadn’t been responding."
Some 150 miles to the west, Chabad of the Emerald Coast Rabbi and Mrs. Shaya Tenenboim have been busy day and night providing essentials to the Panama City area—hots meals, gasoline, portable generators, bottled water, and warm words to all.
During the hurricane’s passage and immediate post-departure, the Tenenboims kept in close contact with local Jewish residents, calling down an alphabetical list to ensure all were safe.
Though some areas are starting the recovery process, with the sporadic restoration of electricity and water, many neighborhoods have been completely devastated and will take months to return to normal.
The Tenenboims spent all day Thursday distributing supplies to people in those hardest-hit areas—with people of all backgrounds touched to receive the fresh homemade food, with many saying it was first warm meal they’d had in days.
And in Pensacola, Rabbi Mendel and Nechama Danow had set up shop just a few days before Hurricane Michael hit and still managed to serve the local community in the aftermath of the storm.
The Category 4 storm passed directly between Destin and Tallahassee, striking such coastal enclaves as Panama City, Mexico Beach and points as far as 75 miles inland before winding down.
Karen Stripling and her elderly father miraculously rode out the monster storm while holed up in his house in Panama Beach. Once the winds died down enough in the wee morning hours, Karen ventured out to her own home in Marianna, hoping things were better up north.
But in driving up the U.S. 231 highway in the wee hours of Thursday, October 11, she witnessed scenes of near-total devastation, with power lines and trees down everywhere, houses flattened and rail freight cars turned on their sides.
Stripling, a regular for several years now at Chabad of Tallahassee, has nothing but praise for Rabbi Oirechman whose center she drove to Thursday evening to collect much needed supplies of ice for herself, her aging father, and other community members in Marianna. “Rabbi Oirechman wants to help everyone,” she said, “and they are truly helping everyone.”
To support Chabad of the Panhandle's rescue efforts - click here.