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In the Wake of Ike—Update from UUs on Texas Gulf Coast Damage

September 13, 2008

2:00 p.m., October 7

Susan Persons, President of the Galveston Fellowship, advised Southwestern District Executive Susan Smith that, while a number of activities and programs have resumed for that congregation, the homes of several members who attend the Fellowship have been destroyed. 

Persons said, "We are consistently having Sunday morning service. As for actually losing members, I don't think we really will. Those of us who had significant damage are mostly re-building... Part of our struggle is rebuilding our communications—i.e., I am on a secondary computer with none of my usual contact information—this is true for many of us. We only have cell phone contact with each other and some e-mails."  The congregation's website is up to date, and Persons adds, " As you well know, we are a hearty group!"  

Smith added, "Some [homes and businesses] still do not have power, some traffic lights are still out or blinking, some street signs missing, there are lots of blue tarps [all over the city]."   

4:00 p.m., September 22

Diana Dorroh, Program Director for the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, informed Southwestern District Executive Susan Smith of the significant Hurricane damage in Baton Rouge (a story the media largely missed). Dorroh said, "In Baton Rouge, there are about 1 million cubic yards of debris, most of it already piled on curbs. About 2500 homes are damaged. Power was out for many for almost 2 weeks. Many still do not have power. At the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, Hurricane Gustav did significant roof damage. A team of volunteers and our minister have patched it, but it continues to leak. And as [Hurricane] Ike came by, it was further damaged and is leaking even more and has gotten more patches. There is some moisture in the sanctuary. Luckily, the air conditioning came back fairly quickly, so we've been able to run the units to dry out some of the moisture. We estimate $25,000 - $50,000 of damage. But we really don't know how much water damage we have."

Dorroh added, "All of our members have some debris to remove. About 10% have damage to their homes. At least one home is totalled. Others are having to move out of their homes. The church's insurance deductible for a "named storm" is so high that we will likely not get any insurance relief. This also applies to many homeowners."

The church has set up a Storm Repair Fund and has begun to receive contributions. The church website also has pictures of the storms' effects on the church campus.

In other news, Robert Barreda, president of the Northwest Community Unitarian Universalist Church in Houston, reported some damage to his congregation. He wrote, "Most everyone has minor damage and there are still quite a few who don’t have power. Of those not having power is our church building. We lost quite a bit of food in our refrigerator ...the building also has a history of and is pretty notorious for having leaks in Selcoe Hall. It stayed consistent in its trend of leaking like a sieve." And, Barreda reported, "as a result of no power along with the water we have some mold issues starting." Barreda noted that the congregation may try and hold worship service in the parking lot for the next several weeks.

4:15 p.m., September 18

This afternoon, a message was received from the president of the UU Fellowship of Galveston County indicating that–miraculously—their church building is undamaged by Hurricane Ike! Susan Persons writes that there is no wind or flood damage to their building, and that "most members have been contacted and were found to be safe although some of us have suffered some damages."

As Southwestern District Executive Susan Smith points out, Ms. Persons–whose home was damaged—knows that it will be a week to ten days yet before most Galveston Island residents are permitted to stay on the island to begin the repair and rebuilding process, and before the congregation can again hold services.

In other news, the president of Beaumont's Spindletop Unitarian Church, Michael Hauk, reports that there was "no damage [to our property] other than to our mailbox"—another turn of good luck.

The Director of Religious Education for the Unitarian Fellowship of Houston, Katy Carpman, reported on September 17 that "The Fellowship managed to keep all of its windows though we've lost a lot of limbs and trees. The roof over the RE wing has suffered some damage, effectively flooding the RE classrooms. Carpet and soggy ceiling tiles have been ripped out, walls and furniture bleached—we'll see if the drywall has to be removed. Hopefully our roofer can see what's up and at least tarp the wing before we get rain again.

"There's plans for a work day in conjunction with the start of the Stewardship campaign this weekend. Still no power."

Ms. Carpman, who is a member of the Northwest Community UU Church in Houston, reports that that congregation "had leaks in 'all the usual places and some of the plastic awnings fell outside the building." She adds, "The signage on Highway 6 is gone. Still no power."

3:30 p.m., September 16

Rev. William G. Sinkford, who has been contacting leaders of UU congregations along the Texas and Louisiana coast, reached Susan Persons, president of the Galveston Fellowship. She is living in a FEMA approved hotel, without power or internet, but is physically fine. Rev. Sinkford reports that Ms. Persons "knows of only one member who elected to ride out the storm on the island. Her plan is to try to set up a telephone tree, using her board members, to contact every member of the fellowship."

Ms. Persons indicated that her only information about the church building comes from aerial photography (through the NOA website) which shows the church still standing and the roof still on.

Ms. Persons added that she believes that Galveston residents might be allowed inspection visits this Friday. At present, efforts in Galveston have been focused on rescuing those who stayed on the island. Reports are that sanitary/health conditions on the island are dangerous.

In other news, the Unitarian Fellowship of Longview sustained some damage during the storm. Congregation Vice President Ruth Semrau reports that "two pines fell on the entrance Saturday evening." Ms. Semrau said it was determined that it was unsafe to enter the church building, and so services were cancelled for Sunday. The power and phone lines remain out.

Ms. Semrau said, "No idea of the repair time frame, but I'm hoping we can get back on schedule next Sunday, even if we have to come in the back way."

8:00 p.m., September 14

A few additional pieces of information have been received, although there is still no word regarding the fate of the Galveston congregation's members or building.

Peggy Harvey, Finance Administrator of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, reports that the church suffered some damage—some roof leaks, some ceiling tiles down, power out in most of the building. Worship was held this morning with 37 members participating. Harvey reports that clean up and volunteer crews are assembling in downtown Houston to begin the long process of restoration.

8:00 p.m., September 13

In the wake of Hurricane Ike, reports are beginning to come in regarding damage to the Texas Gulf Coast and to Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations and members.

UU Southwestern Conference District Executive Susan Smith indicated on Friday evening, just before the storm made landfall, “We are pretty sure that the Galveston congregation is flooded.” At 5:00 PM on Saturday, Smith said that her research on the Galveston situation “does not paint a good picture. The local newspaper's website says that an apartment building one block away from their building has collapsed. It also said that their area remains underwater.”

Reports received late on Saturday indicate that the Bay Area UU Church (BAUUC) (under construction with their new addition) has not been damaged. BAUUC minister Matt Tittle is trapped in The Woodlands by flooding, and unable to reach his own home or the congregation. The Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church, in The Woodlands, has debris on the property and a flooded parking lot but, according to minister Ellen Cooper-Davis, “no damage that I could see. Luckily, as several trees in the apartments nearby came down on cars or against buildings, and our car had some flooding. No power or phone here, but thus far no reports of congregants needing help.” Cooper-Davis says that the congregation will hold worship tomorrow for whoever can make it to church.

Rev. Paul Beedle, minister of Henry David Thoreau UU Congregation in Stafford, writes that “Our worship space is without power, and has some water on the floor that probably blew in under the door. We'll cancel services for the morning.” Later, Beedle was able to make his way to the church property, and found that part of the shell for a new church building, which was under construction, had collapsed.

Southwestern Conference Program Consultant Jennifer Nichols, who is in Dallas, received messages from the ministers of several other Houston area congregations. Revs. Becky and Mark Edmiston-Lange, co-ministers of Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in Houston, reported that they know their congregation is without power, as are many of the residents of Houston, but do not know about additional damage at this time. The congregation has cancelled services for tomorrow in consultation with our BOT president. The Edmiston-Langes wrote, "Although it feels very strange not to have services, that looks like a wise decision at this point. The streets are going to be impassable at points for awhile."

Rev. Phil Douglas, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Corpus Christi, reported that the church had been boarded up and that the area had suffered high winds and power loss, but otherwise had been spared.

Susan Smith said, “I well know that it will be several days before we know the extent of damage and your need for help. We have congregations willing to take evacuees and volunteers wishing to come help after the storm has passed.”

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Last updated on Thursday, June 3, 2010.

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