Frances’ punch lighter than expected against Presbyterians

Most church damage was minor in hurricane

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE — A number of Presbyterian churches in Florida sustained at least minor damage when Hurricane Frances pounded the state last weekend.

      But no church buildings were known to be destroyed. Reports from the pews Tuesday ranged from battered roofs and water damage to broken sanctuary windows, downed trees, and lost steeples. No Presbyterians were reported injured.

      “The damage was widely dispersed,” said the Rev. Laurie Kraus, a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Team member helping to assess damage in the Presbytery of Tropical Florida. “It’s really too early to tell how severe the damage was. People who were already hit by (Hurricane) Charley were made more miserable by Hurricane Frances.”

      It could be days before the full impact of the storm’s destructive trail can be determined, according to presbytery staff and others scrambling to assess the aftermath of Florida’s second hurricane in three weeks.

      Damage to phone lines and cellular towers disrupted communications in parts of the state, leaving presbytery leaders unable to contact pastors in some hard-hit areas to determine the status of their churches.

      Complicating matters, thousands of residents desperate to return home after fleeing the storm ignored Florida officials’ pleas to stay put Tuesday. Instead they jammed highways, delaying emergency workers and slowing damage assessments.

      Most Presbyterian-related damage was reported in the Presbytery of Central Florida, which includes 76 congregations and more than 32,000 Presbyterians in 10 counties.

      The Rev. Paige M. McRight, the presbytery’s executive presbyter, said 12 of their churches are known to be impacted, some previously damaged by Hurricane Charley three weeks ago.

      “We feel very fortunate insofar as we know now we’ve not lost any churches,” McRight said. “While several of our churches have sustained significant damage to roofs, it’s nothing that’s not fixable.”

      She said First Presbyterian Church in Vero Beach took on two feet of water from the storm surge, with cleanup expected to involve removing palm trees from the church grounds, taking up carpet, and cleaning. 

      Conway Presbyterian Church and New Hope Presbyterian Church, which share a building in Orlando, was perhaps the presbytery’s most damaged site during Charley. It sustained additional roof damage during Frances, and also the destruction of plate-glass windows in the sanctuary.

      First Presbyterian Church in New Smyrna Beach sustained roof damage and lost shingles during Frances. Several other churches sustained at least water damage. Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Indialantic had significant damage to the roof of its sanctuary, including a skylight.

      Despite the hits, McRight said the situation could have been far grimmer.

      “I really do feel like we are fortunate, considering what might have been,” said McRight, who was still awaiting word Tuesday from churches in Cocoa Beach. “People took precautions. People evacuated. We have good, strong churches. We are very fortunate that we don’t have more damage than we do.”

      So far First Presbyterian Church in Boynton Beach is believed to be the most severely affected congregation in the Presbytery of Tropical Florida. The church “lost its steeple and has a lot of damage inside,” according to Arlene W. Gordon, the presbytery’s executive presbyter.

      She said First Presbyterian Church in Lake Worth, FL, received water damage from the storm, which also ripped the roof off the home of the Rev. Cornelius S. Kostrub, pastor of Glades Presbyterian Church in Boca Raton.

      Gordon said attempts failed Tuesday to reach Presbyterian churches in Fort Pierce and Stuart, where Frances started early Sunday as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph and more than 13 inches of rain, flooding streets up to four feet deep. It weakened into a tropical storm before sweeping into the Florida panhandle on Labor Day, causing little damage there.

      Kraus, who is a pastor from south Florida, said First Presbyterian Church of North Palm Beach was damaged, but she had no further details.

      Stan Hankins, U.S. disaster response coordinator for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), said that $120,000 from the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering and designated disaster funds has been sent to the region.

      The money, most of which went to Peace River Presbytery, will go for relief work and for church repair following Hurricane Charley, which killed 27 people in southwest Florida and caused an estimated $6.8 billion in insured damage.

      Hankins said it’s likely that more funds would soon be sent to Florida in the wake of Frances. He also was closely monitoring the storm Tuesday as it made its way along the Alabama-Georgia border.

      “I anticipate more funds needed in both Central Florida (Presbytery) at a minimum and Tropical Florida (Presbytery),” Hankins said. “We’re still assessing the impact of the storm with regard to flooding, and that may take us to other parts of the Southeast, other presbyteries.”

      Overall, at least 18 deaths were blamed on Frances in Florida and Georgia, in addition to two earlier in the Bahamas. About 3 million people in Florida were still without electricity on Tuesday and officials said power wouldn’t be fully restored for a week.

      In Georgia more than 500,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Tuesday morning, and even the Georgia Emergency Management Agency was running on generators.

      The one-time hurricane had weakened to a tropical depression early Tuesday as it moved northward across Georgia at about 10 mph, weather forecasters said.

      In the Presbytery of St. Augustine in northeast Florida, Countryside Presbyterian Church near Ocala had its steeple blown off and received water damage after a section of roofing was lost. A number of other churches lost roofing shingles.

      “But that’s all, and we feel fortunate in that regard,” said the Rev. Michael E. Williams, associate executive presbyter. 

      The Presbytery of Florida, in the state’s panhandle, reported no significant damage from Frances. The news was also good this time for Peace River Presbytery in southwest Florida. That presbytery had been hammered by Charley.

      The report was also positive from the Presbytery of Tampa Bay, which includes 77 churches, three new church developments and 28,000 Presbyterians in seven counties.

      “We have called all our churches and checked in with all our ministers,” said Gerry Tyer, executive presbyter. “Other than minor damage, like shingles or branches from trees that are down, there’s no structural damage to either homes or churches.”

      As many started cleaning up, storm-weary Floridians are watching Ivan, a Category 2 hurricane swirling east of the Caribbean but on a path forecasters said could bring it to south Florida by the weekend.

      If so, it would be the third hurricane to hit the state within a month. Hurricane Charley hit the southwest coast with Category 4 force and raced across the state in mid-August.

      “I don’t know anyone who has boarded windows who has taken the plywood down,” McRight said. “We’re very much aware that it’s out there.”

      PDA has expanded its Hurricane Charley account to include Frances: #9-2000015 for U.S. Disaster Response; and #9-2000163 for church property damage. Donations may be made by mailing checks to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Individual Remittance Processing, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700. Gifts by credit card may be made by calling PresbyTel at 800-872-3283 or online at:
http://www.pcusa.org/pda