wfn.org | Churches weather Bonnie's wrath with mostly minor damages

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 31, 1998	  Contact: Joretta Purdue*(202)546-8722*Washington
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By United Methodist News Service*

Hurricane Bonnie did less damage than expected on the East Coast, but
United Methodists in the affected areas are attending to very real needs
resulting from the storm.

Parts of North Carolina took the brunt of the storm, but authorities
there were generally expressing relief that Hurricane Bonnie did far
less damage than Hurricanes Fran and Bertha did to the same areas in
1996. However, parts of the state received up to 14 inches of rain and
the 115-mph winds downed trees and power lines, leaving more than 1
million people without electricity.

Access to parts of  coastal Virginia and North Carolina was hampered by
downed trees and flooding, so assessment was still going on in some
communities on Aug. 31, five days after Hurricane Bonnie first came
ashore at Cape Fear near Wilmington, N.C.

Pilmoor Memorial United Methodist Church in Currituck, N.C., a coastal
town near the Virginia border, lost its electricity. The situation was
made more serious by the presence of two large freezers full of food
belonging to the church's community pantry. The conference quickly
authorized purchase of a generator, and the food was saved.

Roofs and steeples on North Carolina churches took a beating. The Mt.
Carmel United Methodist Church in Southport lost its steeple to the
winds. Roof damage to the First United Methodist Church in Morehead City
allowed water into the church, destroying the sound system and damaging
carpet and other materials.

After spending some of its strength over North Carolina and being
downgraded to a tropical storm, Bonnie picked up steam to wallop
Virginia's Tidewater area with more force than expected. The storm
struck that area overnight Aug. 26-27. Preliminary reports indicated
minor damage to steeples and roofs. A tree fell on the parsonage of the
Good Hope United Methodist Church in Chesapeake, but no one was hurt.
Other parsonages in the Peninsula and Norfolk districts lost shingles or
had water damage.

Because the storm was nearly 400 miles across, South Carolina felt some
of the initial impact. 

"We were spared any real damage from the hurricane," said the Rev.
Charles Johnson, executive director of the South Carolina Annual
(regional) Conference's council on ministries. Wind damage and power
outages were the main effects in the state. Little River (S.C.) United
Methodist Church lost much of its roof.

Officials in the North Carolina Annual (regional) Conference have made
an initial request to United Methodist Committee for Relief (UMCOR) for
$10,000. South Carolina disaster response workers do not expect to need
a grant from outside the conference, and Virginia is still assessing its
need.

Two UMCOR representatives were at work in North Carolina even before
Hurricane Bonnie hit:
Bob Blair of Woodstock, Va., a UMCOR disaster volunteer, and the Rev.
Fred Toland of Theodore, Ala., a UMCOR disaster field consultant.
Volunteer teams are at work with chain saws and other clean up
materials, but more will be needed. Volunteers are being coordinated
through the UMCOR volunteer hotline, (800) 918-3100.

United Methodists may make donations to UMCOR Disaster Response No.
982515-0, earmarked "Hurricanes '98." Checks may be placed in the
offering plate or mailed to 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 330,  New York,
NY 10115. Donations of cleaning and building supplies are being
coordinated by personnel at the UMCOR depot, (800) 814-8765.

# # #

*William Norton, North Carolina Conference communicator, supplied the
North Carolina information for this story.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/