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Jehovah’s Witnesses—1993 Yearbook Report1993 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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North America
Early Monday morning, August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew boiled in from the Atlantic and slammed through southern Florida before veering across the Gulf of Mexico to tear into Louisiana. Screaming like a siren, with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour [230 km/hr] and gusts of at least 164 miles per hour [260 km/hr], the storm leveled 165 square miles [430 sq km] of south Florida. Andrew left 250,000 people homeless, destroyed an estimated 63,000 houses, and left 38 people dead. “The damage was unprecedented in the United States,” said a veteran claims specialist for an insurance company, “the worst I’ve ever seen.”
The Witnesses were not immune to Hurricane Andrew’s fury—3,500 of them were left homeless because 1,120 of their homes were damaged, 150 beyond repair. Ten Kingdom Halls were damaged too. The Governing Body reacted at once. They appointed a relief committee to operate out of an Assembly Hall 40 miles [60 km] north of the Florida disaster zone and immediately made funds available for the purchase of emergency items. As the hurricane winds were diminishing, Witness workers from outside the disaster area started pouring in to help. By Saturday, August 29, the amount of building materials delivered to the Assembly Hall weighed in at 305 tons. By the next day, Sunday, some 70 tractor-trailer loads of supplies had arrived. “About 3,000 Witness volunteers from across the country have converged on the disaster area, first to help their own, then to help others,” reported the Miami Herald of August 31.
To illustrate the speed of the Witnesses’ relief effort, consider what happened shortly after the winds abated. Two carloads of non-Witnesses drove to city hall in one stricken area to offer their help. The police escorted them to the only people who were organized for the repair work—Jehovah’s Witnesses.
All across the United States, Witnesses, including those in full-time service at world headquarters, contributed to the relief effort. In just one week, the Bethel family at Brooklyn, Patterson, and Watchtower Farms donated $26,291.10. Among the moneys received in Florida was a small can with $6.81 in coins. Inside was a note that read: “Dear brothers, I hope you will be alright. We said a prayer for you. I am six. Love, Chance.”
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Jehovah’s Witnesses—1993 Yearbook Report1993 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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[Pictures on page 14, 15]
Hurricane Andrew devastated southern Florida on August 24, 1992, and left 3,500 Witnesses homeless
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