As the cleanup begins in Florida, a Hopkinsville native and pastor who is serving at a church in the Sunshine State is recovering from Hurricane Ian — the second time he has been in the crosshairs of a major hurricane.
Chuck Poe, who grew up in Hopkinsville and served as minister of students and families at Second Baptist Church and as pastor of New Barren Springs Baptist Church, moved to Florida in January of this year to take the helm as lead pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, according to an article in Kentucky Today. Poe also served as youth pastor at this same church almost nine and a half years ago.
Poe told Chip Hutcheson with Kentucky Today that he was also in Florida when Hurricane Charley hit in 2004, so he knew a little about what was going to happen. He said they decided not to leave their home because people would need them afterward.
Their house reportedly sustained minor damage when Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida last weekend. He told Hutcheson Their church sustained some damage, but flooding has been the most disruptive aspect of Ian’s wrath.
Poe noted that when Ian hit it lasted six to seven hours and they never got a break — comparing it to Hurricane Charley which hit and was out of the area in minutes.
According to Poe, they were in the eye of the wall of the storm that resulted in the Peace River rising so much that roads were covered and in some cases washed out.
Poe, who lives in Arcadia — about 50 miles inland from the Gulf Coast, added that they have been landlocked because when Peace River flooded it cut off thousands of homes.
Poe said he couldn’t get to church on Sunday, so their worship pastor and interim youth pastor led the service with about 50 people showing up for worship.
Monday morning, he reportedly got an airboat to ride into town, and Tuesday it took two hours to make what is normally a four-mile round trip.
The article says the lead pastor has been able to call to check on the majority of people in the church and said people have been overwhelmingly positive. Poe said the No. 1 response he has heard was, “We have been so blessed.” He noted probably 90 percent of the people said that — even ones who lost their homes when flood waters washed them away.
He added that Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief has a kitchen crew set up to start cooking meals, but is having to wait for food to arrive. He noted the Red Cross is also in the community with chain saw and mud-out crews working.