On Sunday, the rabbi moved to Florida. On Wednesday, Hurricane Michael hit

When he and his wife moved to Pensacola, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, Rabbi Mendel Danow expected to spend the next couple of weeks settling in and buying supplies for their new home.

Instead, two days after getting off the plane, Rabbi Danow found himself driving to a Walmart in Alabama to buy five 40-packs of water bottles. By Wednesday, the windows and doors of his new home were being covered by metal plates provided by their landlord. And instead of spending their first week in Pensacola alone in their new and mostly empty house, Rabbi Danow and his wife, Nechama, cooked up a stockpile of rice and pasta — and prepared to host 10 overnight guests.

The Danows, who were married this year, were beginning a life as Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries. They landed in the path of Hurricane Michael, an ominous Category 4 storm that hit the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday.

“We’re here to come and we’re here to stay, and we’re here to help out the local community with whatever they need on a physical level and spiritual level,” Rabbi Danow, 23, told JTA. “It seems like G-d wants us to start our communal work right away.”

Hurricane Michael made landfall on Wednesday near Mexico Beach, Florida, roughly 100 miles west of the state capital of Tallahassee, and about 120 miles east of Pensacola, which is on the Alabama border. Maximum wind speeds topped 150 miles per hour. The storm is being called the worst the area has seen in a century.

In Tallahassee, which is further inland, Jewish leaders sounded relatively calm. Both the Reform and Conservative synagogues secured their Torah scrolls, but both expect to be open this weekend for Shabbat services. The Reform congregation, Temple Israel, is set to celebrate a bar mitzvah — of a boy named Michael.

“One way or another we will have Shabbat services this weekend,” Stefanie Posner, the synagogue’s education and music director, wrote JTA in a message Wednesday. “Even if there’s no electricity we’ll make something happen. What’s nicer than a Kabbalat Shabbat service by candlelight.”

Rabbi Danow grew up in Sweden and has no prior hurricane experience for comparison. He and his wife came to Pensacola after visiting as part of a Chabad program. They hope to serve both the small local Jewish community and Jewish students at the University of West Florida.

Besides providing for their own needs, the Danows have checked in with local Jews they have already met ranging from seniors to young Israeli singles. Another Chabad family that evacuated from the nearby coastal town of Destin will be staying at their house.

The couple, three days after moving, does not have much furniture. But they do have sleeping bags, carpeted floors, a folding table, and crayons and paper for kids. And lots of food.

“We’re preparing over here at home, cooking up [food] to have ready to get out to people during and after the storm,” Rabbi Danow said. “Maybe it won’t be hot, but at least it will be fresh and edible.”