08643
September 5, 2008
Gustav deals minimal damage to Presbyterian churches in New Orleans
Presbyterian churches, property mostly unscathed in Mississippi
LOUISVILLE — Presbyterian churches in New Orleans sustained minimal damage from Hurricane Gustav, though the fate of Presbyterian churches and property elsewhere in south Louisiana remained unknown as of Friday (Sept. 5).
Hurricane Gustav claimed much of the metal roof of Baker Presbyterian Church in Baker, LA, exposing the interior to the elements. Photo by Presbytery of South Louisiana staff Meanwhile, it appears that the Mississippi Gulf Coast, decimated so badly by Hurricane Katrina three years ago, escaped Gustav with little destruction.
“An update from the New Orleans area shows that the churches are all in good shape except most do not yet have power,” the Rev. Alan D. Cutter, general presbyter of South Louisiana Presbytery, said Friday. “There has been a couple of church signs blown down; other than that everything else has come through pretty well.”
Cutter said he was unaware of any Presbyterians injured or killed by Gustav, which roared from the Gulf of Mexico into southern Louisiana on Labor Day as a category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 110 mph.
It is still not known for certain whether any Presbyterians lost homes in the Greater New Orleans area.
“I really don’t know,” Cutter said of damage to Presbyterian homes. “But our gut instinct is no, because as we’ve been getting reports the homes do not seem to have been severely damaged, there is not a lot of debris down there.”
 This close-up reveals the extent of damage to the roof of Baker Presbyterian Church in Louisiana following the hurricane on Sept. 1. Photo by Presbytery of South Louisiana staff As assessments continue, the most serious damage known so far to a Presbyterian church took place in Baker, LA, about 10 miles north of Baton Rouge. Gustav ripped much of the metal roof from Baker Presbyterian Church, exposing the building’s interior to rain and wind.
Cutter said homes that were rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina through South Louisiana Presbytery’s Project Homecoming also came through the storm in good shape, as did homes currently under construction.
He said volunteer villages established in Katrina’s aftermath by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) in east New Orleans and Luling, LA, will reopen as soon as they are staffed again and have power and other utilities.
Another PDA-operated village in Houma, LA, had not been surveyed as of Friday since people have not been allowed to return to the area to check on homes and churches, Cutter said.
He said storm-battered Baton Rouge and many parishes throughout Louisiana still remain in crisis mode.
In the days before Gustav arrived, nearly 2 million people were evacuated from the Louisiana coast. Eighteen deaths were attributed to the storm in the United States, several of them occurring during cleanup after it had passed. The storm killed 94 during its march through the Caribbean.
Nearly 80,000 people remained in shelters in Louisiana and surrounding states. An estimated 18,000 people fled from New Orleans on buses and trains arranged by the state and federal governments.
“It would appear at this moment that hardest hit areas are around Baton Rouge and down in the coastal parishes in the area between the landfall made by Rita and Katrina in 2005,” Cutter said. “As assessments are made throughout the state that assessment may change as flooding has become a real problem after four days of rain.”
Cutter said restoring power in Louisiana was critical to reopening schools, businesses and neighborhoods. Without electricity, gas stations could not pump fuel and hospitals were running out of fuel for generators. He said many people are without food, shelter and water.
“The big hold up is power,” Cutter told the Presbyterian News Service from Baton Rouge on Friday. “The schools can’t be in session. They can’t get supplies in. My wife and I at this point are debating whether it’s time for us to go and get in one of the lines and get some MRE’s (Military Meals Ready to Eat).”
Damage reports for Presbyterian-related property in other areas impacted by Gustav were spotty on Friday.
Forty-eight-member Raceland Presbyterian Church was fine, Cutter said, but no information was available regarding the condition of Gheens Presbyterian Church in Gheens, LA, south of Raceland.
There also were no eyewitness reports for Gray, LA, or Morgan City, LA, which are home to Presbyterian congregations.
“We really have not got a real handle on assessment of damage throughout the central part of south Louisiana because of the great number of trees down, because of the lack of any reliable communications and power,” Cutter said. “So much depends on having power and communication that we’re really still in somewhat of a black hole as to finding out what is going on.”
Mississippi
A Mississippi Presbytery leader remained optimistic Friday that Presbyterian property escaped Hurricane Gustav with relatively little damage.
“I think the story here is that we were very fortunate compared to what could have happened,” said the Rev. William A. dePrater, executive presbyter of Mississippi Presbytery. “We’re thankful for God’s grace in Gustav not being worse than it was.”
 Trees downed by Gustav severely damaged the manse at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Natchez, MS. Photo courtesy of Mississippi Presbytery DePrater said a manse at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Natchez, MS, that was heavily damaged when trees fell on it was the most serious storm-related damage reported so far in the presbytery.
“At this point as far as I can tell from phone conversations, I’m not expecting to find other churches that took especially hard hits,” he said. “There’s a water leak here, a water leak there. Some of those water leaks have been long-term. So that’s not something that we can directly say was the effects of Gustav.”
He said a PDA-operated volunteer village in Pearlington, MS, was not as seriously damaged as previously believed. PDA said in a statement Thursday (Sept. 4) that the site had sustained some damage to the “pods” that house volunteers and some debris blocked the use of some equipment.
Diamondhead Community Presbyterian Church, which did not sustain damage and is hosting volunteers, is sending teams to help with clean-up at the village, according to PDA.
PDA reported that a volunteer site in Orange Grove, MS, sustained significant damage but was in the process of reopening.
Helping out
Work teams interested in helping with clean-up and rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav should register with PDA’s national call center located at the Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Little Rock, AR, by calling (866) 732-6121.
Those wishing to respond financially may do so by designating gifts for USA disasters and emergencies, DR000015. Donations may be sent through normal mission giving channels. Gifts by credit card can be made by calling PresbyTel at (800) 872-3283 or online. Checks payable to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can also be mailed directly to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Individual Remittance Processing, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.
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