Crawfordsville news

By Billie Jo Rose

Abaco, Dorian ad the Virus: Another segment in the life of Linda Wiltfang, as she shares with me her experiences with hurricane Dorian and the homeland of Abaco where she and her husband lived since 1975, before moving back to Crawfordsville.

She writes that in January of 2019 she traveled to Florida to meet girl friends and then make their way to Abaco. One of the women lost her beautiful home. It was completely washed away. She was one of the few that had insurance but she, too, lost everything. Their other friend had lived on Abaco for as many years as the Wiltfangs and had only just sold her home to move to the Netherlands. Although they had all seen endless videos, drone shots and photographs, being knee deep in debris was very sobering. Nothing prepares one for the reality, the finality and the destruction.

One of the most difficult days Linda spent was listening to the very personal stories of survival and tragedy from families she had known for years. She learned that day that one of her best friends had sold their property and would not be returning to the island to live. Four generations of that family left to make a life elsewhere. This was one of most difficult aspects of the tragedy. People lost their homes, members of their families, their businesses, their churches, their way of life, everything they held dear. The trauma was so extreme that the sound of the wind today sends them into complete panic. Nightmares, anxiety and other symptoms of PTSD are widespread. Living there is not just about the beauty of the beaches, the way of life, the food, the music, it's the people. If all the electricity is restored, the water is running, the internet and cable operational, but the people are gone, it will not be the home they have known and loved.

Linda spent several weeks working on their house. She hired a young men who had also helped her husband, Dan and son, Jason during their December trip. They cleaned every surface. Walls, ceilings, shelves, cupboards, furniture, all needed to be

washed.

Everything had been in salt water and whatever else floated in for awhile and even though it had been mucked out and looked fairly clean, she knew they had much to do. One advantage to the Wilfang's home was that have cement walls, and tongue and groove ceilings. There is no dry wall, so there was no major construction to be done indoors. Samaritans Purse put a waterproof tarp over the roof, making it far less susceptible to water intrusion. Even with the violent thunderstorms that they had experienced, the floors had remained dry. She had planned to spend two weeks volunteering with one of the organizations doing food distribution before she left. By the time she was ready, the distribution was winding down, with less space and fewer donations. There was an influx of people returning for the first time since Dorian. It had been six months since they had evacuated, so now leases were up, visas expired and others had seasonal bookings. May of these people were returning to homes not yet ready for habitation. Their homes still needed roofs, windows and cleaning. Here was another group starting over from scratch. At least now, the grocery store was open, food and gasoline were available, there was running water or it could be hauled from water stations. Things were beginning to get organized, clean-ups were in evidence. The NCOs were doing wonderful work. NCOs (NON Government Organization), such as Samaritans Purse, World Central Kitchen, Missionary Flights International, Hearts and Hands, CORE, Team Rubicon, Water Mission, Hands and Feet, all doing amazing things with volunteers from all over the world. A school had been organized and opened, allowing children from all different schools to attend. One of Linda's favorite images was watching the children in their different school uniforms passing the door of the distribution center. There was so much left to do, to be done, but she was beginning to have hope. Families were returning and putting their children in school, finding various jobs or tapping into their entrepreneurial spirit. To come home, you needed a place to live, a job and school for the children.

All this was before anyone knew of the virus.

Final chapter next week.

Sonya Love, Anna Gillis and Karen Denler decided it would be a fun way to get people out and about during this time of distancing, so they set up a Scavenger Hunt on Sunday, April 26, 2020. The found 20 locations in Southern Washington County and then posted on Facebook asking families to play. There were 20 families that participated. At 1 p.m. each family had their own messenger group on Facebook and they set out to find various cites in the county. They had to figure out the clue, go to the next location, and take a picture with one of the family members in it, so they knew they'd found the location. From there they got their next clue. The winners took two hours and 15 minutes to complete. Some families took almost four hours. All families said they had lots of fun, went to some places they had never been and learned a few things. They had three different routes so people were able to distance.

Thank you girls for coming up with these fun activities and I hear more may in the works.