Aerial photos of damaged churches

[Jerry D Thomas]

Aerial photos of damaged churches

New Orleans, LA — As more reports from the affected southeastern Louisiana area come in, we are getting a better idea of the damaged suffered by our local churches. Some of the information is better than we feared. This is the best information at the moment on our church and school structures. Bear in mind that it could also prove to be inaccurate or incomplete.

We have been able to view some of the damages by studying aerial photos provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). By going to the Southwest Adventist Hurricane Center web site, www.swahc.org, you can see that the New Orleans First church (located in Metairie) is no longer flooded, although it apparently had about three feet of water at one point as well as roof and window damage. Clean up work has already begun. The Metairie Spanish church may also have been flooded, but appears to be dry in the aerial photo. We have no reports of the damage there.

The aerial photo of the New Orleans Caffin Avenue church and school are not as encouraging. You can see that the buildings were still deeply underwater when this shot was taken. Reports are that water was 12 to 20 feet deep in that area. There is apparent roof damage to the school. The aerial photo of the Westbank United church does seem to verify reports that it suffered little damage.

Other churches with reports of only minimal damage are Houma, Bogalusa, Hammond, Mandeville, Kenner Spanish, Marrero Faith Fellowship, and Houma Better Living. Slidell and New Orleans West Bank report wind damage with the West Bank church having lost its steeple.

In addition to Metairie Spanish, Caffin Avenue, and New Orleans First, these churches are reported to have been flooded to a greater or lesser degree: Ephesus church and school, New Orleans East, New Orleans New Life, Kenner, and New Orleans Spanish. Other churches reported with significant damage include the Emmanuel church in Hammond, and the newly constructed Glad Tidings church in Slidell.

No other reliable information is available for other churches including the St. Bernard church which is presumed heavily damaged by flooding because of its location.

To see the aerial photos and to find out more about the response to this disaster, or to see the “safe” or “searching for” lists of members, visit www.swahc.org.

Jerry D. Thomas is the Southwestern Union Conference communication director

[Neil D]

Jerry,

What is the conference looking at to get these churches back up and running again?

[Jerry D Thomas]

It's too early to know, but multiple millions of dollars and many months. Keep in mind, it is almost impossible to get flood insurance in New Orleans, so most of these structures are not insured. Like so many homes, the churches that have sat underwater for day after day will be totally ruined, polluted, likely condemned if still intact.

For the conferences, the question will be whether or not to rebuild in the same locations. Fortunately, there seem to be very few lives lost among Adventist members, but if a large number of the members who have been displaced end up relocating permanently, there may not be need for the same churches in the same areas.

[Amelia]

Are those Adventist churches?

[Jerry D Thomas]

Yes, those are Adventist churches in the Greater New Orleans area.

[Jerry D Thomas]

For those who watched the Hope TV program on the Hurricane relief efforts, their information on the status of some of the New Orleans area churches was incorrect. The Kenner Spanish church was not destroyed, and in fact appears to be largely undamaged. The Ephesus church may indeed be heavily damaged, but no one knows for sure since no one has been back since the flooding.

It may be several weeks before we know the status of those churches in the most heavily flooded areas, such as the Caffin Avenue church as shown in the aerial photo on the Southwest Adventist Hurricane Center at www.swahc.org.