Hurricane Irene, a 600-mile wide storm, made shore this weekend, leaving at least 25 dead and billions of dollars of destruction in its wake, from North Carolina to Maine. Some communities and states will continue to be impacted by the storm’s deluge as rivers continue to rise, which is expected to cause additional flooding in the days to come.
However, as of Monday, East Coast Assemblies of God districts had heard of only a handful of churches that had experienced any significant damage due to their encounter with Hurricane Irene with flooding of basements being the most common. A/G officials are cautious at this point, as with millions of homes and businesses without power and with damage to cell towers, they believe that there could be additional damages not yet reported.
In addition, at this time attempts to contact the Southern New England District Council office have not been successful, though a local pastor has reported at least one church in Massachusetts being damaged.
Following is a district-by-district summary:
• New Jersey District: Lighthouse Tabernacle in Lumberton and House of Peniel Worship Center in Trenton both experienced flooding.
• New York District: no reports of church damages at this time.
• North Carolina District: minor damage reported, including siding blown off, trees down and debris needing to be cleaned up.
• Northern New England District (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont): no reports of any church damages yet.
• Pennsylvania-Delaware District: Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Abington, Penn., experienced flooding.
• Potomac District (Maryland, Virginia, a portion of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and District of Columbia): no reports of church
damage at this time.
• Southern New England District (Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island): Attempts to reach the district office have not been successful, but the AG church in Onset, Mass., is reported to have lost its steeple.
According to the Convoy of Hope website, the organization had deployed members of its disaster response team in North Carolina prior to the arrival of Hurricane Irene, and two tractor-trailers loaded with water, ready-to-eat meals and equipment will soon be headed to the state.
