Hurricane Ian Part 2: A Sheepdog's View

48 BETTER OFF WET | NOVEMBER 2022

Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

By: Benjamin J. Chewning

So, my first five days in Southwest Florida, after Ian struck, was (as you can read in the previous article) a bit unorganized and clouded with red tape. But, my second five day run down in Southwest Florida, volunteering with Sheep Dog Impact Assistance’s Disaster Relief Team was anything but unorganized and had great leadership. It is amazing what good organizations, like Sheep Dog can do with far less resources than our State and Federal Governments. I saw many other organizations like Sheep Dog, volunteering and distributing resources, without the issue of having to ask a direct line boss or fill out a bunch of unneeded paperwork, just to get supplies to folks in need. I did not see any “wanna be” bosses or folks on power trips, I only saw folks, many Veterans, willing to help and do anything asked of them. The true God given American Spirit of this country was definitely present amongst the Sheep Dogs and came out in full force with every roof they tarped, every tree they cut up, wet couch they hauled out, and every package of food and water they handed out to citizens in need.

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Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

50 BETTER OFF WET | NOVEMBER 2022

Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

I had the pleasure of meeting Raffy Morales, the Central Florida Team Leader for Sheep Dog Impact Assistance, at my church, several months ago. Our first interaction outside of church was a Sheep Dog fishing trip we did this past summer. I knew I liked Raffy right away; he has a great personality and sense of humor. But, more than that, his heart for helping others stands out more than the funny jokes and quick timed responses. Raffy was in law enforcement for many years before joining the Sheep Dog Impact Assistance Central Florida Team. Raffy has now been with the Sheep Dog Team for over a decade and has been present for many disaster relief deployments, to affected areas, in multiple states and other countries, as well. Raffy was in charge of setting up shop in Southwest Florida and getting the Sheep Dogs doing what they do best, help out folks in need. When I heard from my wife, after speaking to Raffy’s wife, that the Sheep Dog Team could really use a boat to be effective in getting supplies to people still stuck on islands, I reached out to Raffy right away. I thought to myself, now this is God at work for sure…because I had been looking at other volunteer opportunities after finishing with helping my buddy’s company out. And, sure enough God showed me a need, where I could use our boat and my skill sets, to help further Sheep Dogs Impact on communities, hit hard by Ian.

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Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

52 BETTER OFF WET | NOVEMBER 2022

Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

When I arrived at Grace Baptist Church, in Cape Coral, Raffy and the Sheep Dog Team had already gotten that church “stood up”. The church was operating on generator power and had already become a hub for folks in need to come by and get supplies. The church parking lot was full of tents and there were dozens of Sheep Dogs living in them. The church and the Sheep Dog team had the entire sanctuary turned into what they referred to as “Tom’s Club”, named after Pastor Tom, the lead Pastor of Grace Baptist Church. There was almost everything anyone could need available, for free, to anyone in need affected by the storm. The Sheep Dog organization was providing big ticket items like generators, saws, roofing materials as well as water, food, tents, soap, diapers, and you name it. The next mission, I was informed, after my arrival was to “stand up” another church on Pine Island, at St. James City. Raffy had already made contact with the Pastor there. One of the other Sheep Dog’s Clint had made contact with a retired Colonel on North Captiva Island named Bill, who said they could really use roofing materials, fuel, and other supplies. So, being as the island is only accessible by boat that was what the Sheep Dog’s asked me to do. And, so began the B.O.W. skiff’s journey as a hauler and my start into being an honorary Sheep Dog.

I generally don’t get nervous running a boat, even in new waters, like the ones between Punta Gorda and North Captiva Island. The advent of modern electronics and a shallow running boat, help with any captain’s confidence going into new waterways. That being said… no amount of marine electronics or boat hull confidence will help you out, when there are tons of channel marker pilings cut off at or just below the waterline, and debris for days in the water. I knew instantly that I needed to keep my head on a swivel and my eyes focused on the water ahead of me, at all times. Fortunately for me, I had

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Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

54 BETTER OFF WET | NOVEMBER 2022

Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

a great Sheep Dog crew with me, including a retired Army Sgt. Major, with over 30 years of service, to our great nation. Sgt. Major and his wisdom and eyesight were definitely a big help to our operation. Reaching Sgt. Major, in the Army (highest enlisted rank), is no small feat and I and the other Sheep Dog boat crew members recognized that immediately and were more than happy to have the retired Sgt. Major on board. The boating operations went well without any issues, thank God. Even though we saw some rough water, with boat heavily loaded down a couple of times or more, we were able to make our deliveries, as we were tasked to do. I will say that one of the wildest things I had to swerve to miss was a Palm tree standing completely vertical in about 12 foot of water; you definitely don’t see that every day. I would love to see a time-lapse video of Ian relocating that tree thousands of feet from land and having it stand up perfectly straight in the water. There will be many obstacles in the water, in Southwest Florida, I’m sure, for a long time to come. Readers, please be careful if you are out on any waterways in that area.

While the water operations were underway, Raffy and the other Sheep Dogs “stood up” the church in St. James City, mentioned earlier. They “de-mucked” (shovel out the mud, sand, and cut out all the drywall 4 foot from floor up) the church and got it running on generator power. And, same as the previous church they now began to turn this church into a distribution point for supplies and temporary housing. The stories of devastation I heard from many folks on the island(s) were incredible and very hard to fathom. I will not go into the gory details, in this article, but I will just say that the human spirit is extremely hard to break, and that is well evident in the folks who survived Hurricane Ian, on the islands of Southwest Florida. Raffy and the Sheep Dogs were constantly on the move and

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Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

56 BETTER OFF WET | NOVEMBER 2022

Hurricane Ian Part 2 – A Sheep Dog’s View

talking with other relief organizations, to make sure each group had the supplies they needed to most benefit the citizens of the communities they were in. Many churches, VFW’s, and community centers became supply points and meeting locations, within hours and days of Ian striking Florida’s Southwest coast. It was truly my pleasure to volunteer with the Sheep Dogs. Even though I’m not a Veteran or First Responder, they welcomed me to the team and it was truly my pleasure to help them, help many folks in need.

Sheep Dog Impact Assistance is a nonprofit organization, who does tons of work to help Veterans, First Responders, and citizens all over in times of emergency. If, you want to send your money to good organizations that actually help, in my opinion, Sheep Dog is a great one to do so. Please, visit their website or contact Raffy Morales (sheepdogia.org 813-335-0342), if you would like to help. I would just like to thank God for good organizations out there, who come to places of distress in their times of need. The Holy Bible says that one of the fruits of the Spirit is Joy, and even in the midst of extreme tragedy, I saw that Joy on people’s faces all over Southwest Florida. Hurricanes can take all of your possessions and leave you with nothing physically, but they cannot take your spirit, unless you let them. So, please keep your head up, eyes focused on God (our true provider), and be thankful for all the wonderful organizations out there, like the Sheep Dogs. As Floridian’s we never really know anything about what these hurricanes are going to do… but, we can certainly know what we are going to do and how we will act to adversity, when it comes our way.

Thank you to all the wonderful people working to restore Southwest Florida!

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