By J.A. Dunn

MIAMI — Gloria Elvine crawled on the floor of her Liberty City home screaming for her daughter as a tornado unleashed its fury on Liberty City.

The looming dark skies of March 27 beckoned Elvine home because she knew her daughter, who is fearful of storms, would be afraid.

Fifteen minutes after arriving home, the two scrambled for cover as a tornado ripped through the area. It was about 5:30 p.m.

Elvine tried to calm her daughter who wanted to flee.

“She was pacing the floor, and I was telling her that we couldn’t leave because I could barely see to drive home,” Elvine recalled. “Then the lights went out, and it sounded just like a train was coming, and then rain was coming in the house because part of the roof was gone.

“I couldn’t see my daughter because it was so dark and the rain was pouring in. I just remember telling her to pray, to ask God to save us.”

Although the tornado lasted only five minutes, a month later the city is still grappling in its wake.

Elvine’s home was insured, but has been condemned. She’s now battling with the insurance company while struggling to pull the pieces of her life and the lives of her four children together.

“I thank God for saving our lives,” the Miami native said. “It was a scary experience. It was 100 times worse than Hurricane Andrew. It took your breath away.”

Now, the Rev. Jimmie Brown, minister of Miami’s Ebenezer United Methodist Church, is working hard to breathe life into the devastated community by assisting those in need.

Only two of Brown’s 1,000-member congregation were directly affected, but he’s reaching out to 400 others in need of assistance.

“We’re working with local, state and federal agencies in an effort to help,” Brown said. “We knew we were going to have to put denominations aside to make a difference. The area that was hit was not the wealthiest part of town to start with. There are renters with no renters’ insurance and people who have lived in their homes for many, many years and want to stay there even if damage was done to their homes. We don’t want people to fall through the cracks.”

Bill Rhan, the Florida Conference’s Disaster Response coordinator, said that’s not going to happen.

Rhan and his team are always ready to launch into action shortly after Mother Nature leaves a torn town in her wake. When people have nothing, Rhan and his team provide flood buckets to aid them in starting the cleanup process.

“This tornado did an enormous amount of damage,” said Rhan, who reminds people it’s a lengthy process to restore lives after disaster strikes. “Thank God it was no bigger than it was. Power lines were down on the ground, trees were uprooted, and many homes were missing their roofs. Unfortunately, we can’t go through and wave a magic wand.”

Rhan and Brown are working to assess the damage of homes one by one, determining who is insured and assisting seniors and those who are physically challenged first. They are also determining what state and local funds are available.

For now, Brown attends all disaster related meetings and makes sure the information gets to the right people.

Elvine said Brown’s support really makes a difference. She said he has been there for her family since the beginning. Her children attend his church, and although she doesn’t, she said Brown has become a rock of support emotionally and spiritually.