8/23/04

Status report for Ft. Meade:

1. We had four large oak trees uprooted. Three were on our buildings. One punctured the roof of our Sunday school wing in several places. Our choir rehearsal and music room was flooded. One tree came down on the aluminum covering between our fellowship hall and Sunday school wing smashing the aluminum covering down on the church van; however, the van is not damaged. The electric service on the roof of that building was bent overe. The roof just came down and rested on the top of the van. Another tree demolished a frame storage shed completely and clipped an aluminum cover over the area where we keep the riding lawn mower and uprooted a portion of a chain-link fence.

2. The wind blew out one of the doors on the east side of the sanctuary. The door is busted. We have plywood nailed over the opening.

3. Shingles blown off the entryway cover over the east side doors of the sanctuary.

4. The heavy gauge aluminum trim on the northern gable end of the sanctuary was blown off as well as several facial aluminum pieces at various places around the church building.

5. The parsonage behind the church suffered only minor damage. Limbs down, soffit blown out at several places, and wire dangling (phone). Yard filled with debris from our own trees as well as the neighbors trees.

UPDATE:
1. As of today, Friday, we have a crew completing the removal of the trees from our buildings. Especially critical was the one which punctured the roof of the Sunday school wing. We have put temporary tarpaper covering over those holes.

2. Yesterday, Thursday, we had a machine come in to remove one stump and several large pieces of oak which had been sawed up.

3. Yesterday, Thursday, some of our own people came and removed the limbs, twigs, leaves and debris scattered all around the church lawn.

4. Yesterday, Thursday, to prevent further flooding the chair of the Trustees and I torn the wet carpet out of the choir room (after the roof was patched).

5. As of Wednesday, the electricity came back on for the church office, fellowship hall, and the Sunday school wing. No electric yet for the sanctuary nor the parsonage.

6. The insurance adjusted came Wednesday and filled out paperwork on the damage, etc.

7. We hired someone to clear the parsonage yard.

8. The church is rimmed with piled debris; hopefully the State and town will pick up soon. We have moved everything to edge of property in preparation for pickup.

9. We conducted a morning worship service last Sunday even without electricity, etc. Attendance was small and it was terribly hot, but the service turned out very well with several people expressing their appreciation and thanks that things were not worse.>

10. Several of our people have had special needs, but I believe all is being handled well. No major injuries nor deaths.

11. The telephone service has been intermitent. This includes the landline as well as cell phones. Sometimes they are on and sometimes they are off.

We have moved ahead as rapidly as we could. Help from the outside was arriving too slowly and we had to act before things got worse with the daily afternoon rains.
I am emailing this from another location. Even though the elctricity is on in the church office our DSL and phone lines are not working.

Blessings,

Pastor Rich Humston
Ft. Meade
fm_fumc@earthlink.net