Greetings From Orlando!

After six or seven reroutings through Columbus, through Cinci, through Cleveland, through Atlanta, we finally caught a direct flight in Cleveland to. . . Miami. A mere four hours later we drive north to Orlando. Reaching Kissimmee the devastation even this far inland was remarkable. I can't begin to estimate how many are without power, water, necessities. Phone lines are difficult and different buildings are impacted differentially. We have a small roof-leak problem that we'll attempt to patch with tarpaulins until the insurance adjustors adjust things.

Please pray for those of my neighbors more heavily hit whose homes are more seriously damaged. Also please remember those who have died, the estimates are not even possible at this time.

Later: I should note for those concerned that power is out in a lot of places in Orlando. I don't know precisely where Mr. Luse lives, but I suspect he may be in one of the areas where power has taken a while to be restored. I live fairly close to the airport and so my neighborhood and surrounding areas is a kind of priority when it comes to these things. Even cable is mostly back. Please pray that God withhold the wonderful gift of rain for a day or two. My guess is that 50-75 percent of all houses in this area are affected, and we are actually lucky considering reports coming from elsewhere.

Thank you for all your prayers, and please keep them coming! Restoring the traffic signals is a critical priority so that some of the chaos can be cleared up.