We left Pittsburgh and had a very nice flight to Florida but our gate to catch the PAP plane was not announced and we wondered but of course, knew we could go to the monitor and see what gate we were to board the plane. When we looked at PAP, everything was cancelled. We got to the ticket counter and were told not to even book a flight because everything was backlogged and they didn't know when the PAP airport would open again. They said they had just gotten caught up and this was throwing them way behind. We found Dan and a new friend Nancy at the baggage claim. They were booked to fly to Haiti on Saturday (today). So, after getting our bags and our getting a guarantee voucher for a room at Red Roof Inn we all decided to take that room rather than sleep on the floor at the airport (which Nancy did the night before). At least there would be a clean bed and a hot shower. We found a gas station two blocks from the motel that served food so we had a nice sandwich. Later that evening we decided to just try calling American airlines and found they were flying on Wednesday and that we could have a seat. Actually, they put three planes back to back to handle the stranded travelers.
There was enough of a window from Hannah that allowed the planes to fly. Mike Painter was there to pick us up in a very old truck but said his wouldn't do well on the roads because they were such a mess and they were! Gary and Dan were rained on during the time it took to get us to St Marc. We had to cross the Montrouis bidge over a raging river which describes all the rivers we crossed. Water rushing through them and in some where they'd been dried up for years. Got to St Marc, saw Barbara out on the highway at that bridge which had a huge hunk of it broken off. She began to tell us everything that happened on Tuesday night. Homes washed away, flooding so high it was unbelieveable. We had noticed as we entered St Marc, that banana trees were down and we thought perhaps it was wind but found the river had so exceeded it's banks it flooded the highway and everything around. The river is thirty feet down so you can imagine how much water poured into it to bring it over the highway several feet. YWAM had four foot of water in their low lying compound.
Driving through St Marc was shocking, and when we got to the bridge in the middle of town, water was rushing over it, we had to take another route. (Water is still rushing over that bridge as something is blocking the water from going under the bridge).
Our house was wet, quite wet, but we managed to get in and drop in bed after being beaten up in the truck that brought us home. Before Mike left his wife called to say the Montrouis bridge (which we'd just crossed ) was about to fall down. Now what you have to do is drive to the bridge, park, walk across it and be picked up on the other side if you want to go to Port, which is what Gary and Dan will do today in order to get our mail.
Jessica is stranded in Ft Lauderdale, flying Spirit Airlines and won't come in until Monday.
Our staff did well, didn't lose anything except Yvesner lost his church and Antonio lost his roof. So many houses swept away though and several deaths. We are so thankful they are all okay.
We don't know what the next hurricane will bring but with Gonaives underwater and hungry people everywhere, we know that any more rain will really make things harder, so please pray that Ike stays very far north and does no damage here or in the US.
The little boy at the top of the blog is homeless now. His house was right on the ocean and is gone. Actually, it fell down before the high winds and rain so they weren't there when the flood rushed through which saved his life.
Our orphanage is not finished. They didn't put floors in nor did they put doors on. It's going to take money to get it going as now we have much to do there structurally to get it ready to live in. Rice is up to over 600 H dollars a bag which means nearly 100 USD. Feeding is going to cut way into our budget this year. Cement is up. Everything is extremely expensive. We lean hard on the Lord to provide finances to do all that is necessary to be done. School should start on the 15th as planned although there is lots of work there to get it ready. One classroom took a pretty hard hit with wind and rain.
We will keep you posted as we go along. Continue to pray for us!
Gary and Carolyn
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