Those were among the first casualty reports to emerge from the aftermath of the hurricane that struck the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sept. 1. Presbyterian leaders emphasized Wednesday (Sept. 3) that details were still sketchy and that it might be days before officials know the complete scope of damage.
Also, it was not immediately known whether any Presbyterians were injured or killed as a result of Hurricane Gustav.
“Frankly, we can’t tell you how many (Presbyterian churches) have been destroyed because we can’t get an eye on assessment down in the coastal parishes and the evacuation was so good that nobody’s left down there to give any reports,” said Alan D. Cutter, general presbyter of South Louisiana Presbytery, which includes about 66 churches and mission stations.
Complicating matters, most Louisiana residents were still without electricity Wednesday and many phones lines and trees were down as well, Cutter said. He said most cellular telephone towers were operating on battery power only and gasoline was hard to come by, making it difficult for officials to travel to impacted areas to assess damage.
“Part of the problem is most of the state has very limited power and almost no communication,” he said. “Much of the state of Louisiana is in dire straights, really.”
What is known, Cutter said, is that Gustav tore the sanctuary roof from Baker Church in Baker, La., about 10 miles north of Baton Rouge, exposing the interior to the elements. He said someone at the 100-member church drilled a hole in the sanctuary floor to let the water drain out.
Cutter said two Presbyterian churches in Baton Rouge —
Church of the Way and Broadmoor — received moderate roof damage. He said the private residence of a Broadmoor member was destroyed in the storm and a presbytery staffer also lost a home.
Meanwhile, little information was available Wednesday about the fate of PC(USA)-related property in the New Orleans area. Cutter said he hoped to know more by late Wednesday. He was optimistic that the area escaped the level of destruction dealt by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
He did confirm that the New Orleans offices of the presbytery’s Project Homecoming, which has been active in assisting rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina, were not damaged along with an adjacent building used to house young adult volunteers.
“New Orleans we will know about later today and that should be pretty good,” Cutter said. “It’s the coastal area west of New Orleans over towards Lake Charles that took the brunt of the storm. In other words, the areas that didn’t get hit by Rita or Katrina got hit this time. That would be Houma, Gray, and Raceland.”
He said he feared that volunteer villages operated by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) in Houma, La., and Luling, La., were damaged, but said that no one has an eyewitness report at this time. Luling is immediately west of New Orleans and Houma is about 60 miles southwest of New
Orleans.
The construction supervisor of the Houma village lost his home to Gustav, though his family had evacuated to safety. Houma is still recovering from 2005’s Hurricane Rita and was directly in the path of Gustav.
In Mississippi, Westminster Church in Natchez had about three or four trees fall on its manse, severely damaging the structure, said William A. dePrater, executive presbyter of Mississippi Presbytery. He said one or two trees fall on the church’s education building as well. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
He said there were still power and telephone outages in Natchez and other parts of the state on Wednesday.
“We’re still trying to do initial assessments,” dePrater told the Presbyterian News Service on Wednesday. “I think we’ve had some tree limbs down and things like that. I don’t (think) most of our churches have been as impacted as the churches of Louisiana because it basically hit over there instead of over here.”
He said the PDA-operated volunteer village in Pearlington, Miss., was seriously damaged. PDA said on Wednesday that residual wind and rain from Gustav had affected Arkansas where Presbyterian-related Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Little Rock was without power.
“I have found that there is what I call post-traumatic stress from (Hurricane Katrina),” dePrater said. “I think people are just really scared to death. That’s one of the really bad effects besides the physical damage, I think, the emotional stress.”
Helping out
Work teams interested in helping with clean up and rebuilding efforts should register with PDA’s national call center located at the Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Little Rock, Ark., by calling (866) 732-6121.
Those wishing to respond to Hurricane Gustav 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 at Disaster Relief–USA Disasters & Emergencies. 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.
