Calculating The Cost Of Irene

Besides the loss of life, interrupted lives, human suffering, and priceless possessions lost, there can now be an approximate dollar amount put on Hurricane Irene.

According to an estimate by AIR Worldwide Insurance companies, the total sum paid out will reach between $3 billion and $6 billion to cover damage – the bulk of which is coming from massive flooding. For Irene, the wind was not so much the issue. It was the vast downpour that caused widespread flooding that went farther inland than usual for an East Coast storm. Even Vermont felt the storm’s wrath.

Of course these figures are a far cry from Katrina in 2005 which caused $41.1 billion in losses, or Andrew in 1992, which caused $15.5 billion to Florida and Louisiana. But that was then and this is now. And for those who have lost some, or all of their worldly possessions, comparing one storm to another is rather meaningless.

The sun now shines, the storm is gone and now headed for the record books. Only the carnage lingers and will for some time. So the question now becomes, especially for Christians, what do we do to help? First and foremost, we need to open our eyes and care – something not easy if we ourselves happened to ‘dodge the bullet’ so to speak.

I personally led 5 separate relief trips from our church in New Jersey to Mississippi after Katrina devastated the Gulf coast. The stunning image in my mind of stepping onto the property, some 2 miles inland, where the Lake Shore Baptist Church once stood, are as fresh today as they were almost 7 years ago. I’ll never forget walking onto a concrete slab and trying to conjure up the 30-foot storm surge that carried the church, and most everything else there, away with it. Multiply that by 500 or 1,000 and perhaps you have proportions of the biblical Genesis flood!

But for many of us, the damage this time is in our own back yards. Physically helping does not require an expensive 1100-mile journey and many long hours to get there. This time, we can easily help our own neighbors. This time we can volunteer through one of the best organizations in the disaster aid business – Samaritans Purse. www.spvolunteernetwork.org  We can all use this opportunity to lovingly, and with sensitivity, share the Gospel of Christ and use these unfortunate circumstances to point out how fragile material things really are and the value of clinging to the saving and solid rock with is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). And we can all give, pray, and encourage those who have suffered loss just as Paul wrote about in Romans chapter twelve.

“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.” (Romans 12 10-13) Verse 15 adds, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

After the chaos of the storm comes the chance to serve. There comes time to become the literal ‘Hands and Feet of Christ'. Hopefully His church will not squander this great opportunity, but will fully display His love and then His command recorded in Galatians 6:10. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."

Bill Breckenridge