Tornado brings out the best in people

Thankfully, no major damage

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

Thankfulness and helpfulness were some people’s responses after a tornado touched down in Webster and Dudley Saturday morning. The tornado was reported to be a “high-end EF-1,” with estimated wind speeds up to 110 mph.
“A number of us expressed gratitude to God in the wake of the storm – that there were no injuries of parishioners,” and no major injuries to anyone else or to parish buildings, said Father Adam Reid, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Webster.
His most notable concern was public safety, he said. By the time he talked to The Catholic Free Press Monday evening, six good-sized trees on the church and rectory property at East Main and Granite streets had been taken down. A seventh, near Sacred Heart Parish Hall and Gym on Day Street, was removed Tuesday.
The other Webster and Dudley parishes did not report any significant damage. However, two commercial buildings on Main Street in Webster were damaged and later condemned and demolished. Some residents in the storm’s path were displaced, one minor injury was reported, and some people temporarily lost power.     
“What was affirming in all of this, not only our parishioners, but neighbors, helped clean up” – even in the rain, Father Reid said. “We are trying to do a great deal to help the community by way of outreach, and to evangelize. It seemed to me that all of those efforts have born fruit.”  
“The storm hit as we were hosting a meeting to finalize the planning for one of the most notable” (in terms of size) outreaches of the year – Sacred Heart’s neighborhood picnic – he said. The picnic is set for Aug. 18, from 5-7 p.m., on the parish grounds.
During the picnic planning meeting Saturday morning in Sacred Heart’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel, some of those present received tornado warnings on their cell phones, Father Reid said.
“Within 10 minutes torrential rains and high winds started buffeting the church,” he said. “We saw a branch go by the window and a lawn chair from a neighbor’s property. It was just a short time later I ventured out to survey the damage. It was still heavily raining.”
Tree limbs had completely blocked the parking lot and rectory driveway, he said, and a parishioner’s car was almost completely shrouded by limbs, though not badly damaged. One tree had been knocked onto another, fallen limbs extended onto the sidewalks on Granite and East Main streets and a branch had knocked off the protective covering at the base of a utility pole.
“Fortunately, it did not expose any wiring,” Father Reid said. He said they reported the damage and soon the highway department arrived.
Parishioner Jeanne Guerin said she closed the perpetual adoration chapel in Emmaus Center at about 10:45 a.m. Saturday, unsure what adorers might be facing if they tried to get there. Two people were still inside. The chapel reopened about 9 a.m. Sunday, she said.
She said her husband, Raymond, called his brother-in-law Michal Werbecki, a fellow-parishioner, who came to help with his chain saw and 10-year-old son, Connor Werbecki.
“We were all out there, lugging … hauling branches to the back of the church,” said Nancy Kudzal, Sacred Heart’s administrative assistant, one of those at the meeting. The parking lot was cleared in time for confessions at 3 p.m. and the Sunday vigil Mass at 4 p.m., she said.
“We had no problems,” Father Reid said. “The parking lot was safe. … One small section was blocked off” as a precaution, because of hanging limbs. A tree service removed limbs and trees after the 11 a.m. Mass Sunday, stopping before the 6 p.m. Mass, and returned on Monday, he said.
Two damaged trees, that could have been saved but were near the end of their lifespan, were also taken down.
It turned out to be a good decision as deterioration was found inside the largest, which appeared to be the least damaged, Father Reid said.
A water bottle stuck in a downspout limited the downspout’s capacity, causing rainwater to back up into the gym, slightly damaging ceiling insulation, he said. There was also a little water in the boiler room at the All Saints Academy Middle School campus building (the former St. Anne Elementary School) on Day Street, he said.
Connie Jezierski, administrator at St. Louis Parish in Webster, said there was minor damage to small trees on the All Saints Academy Elementary School campus (the former St. Louis Elementary School). Some limbs had to be taken down, she said.
Ms. Kudzal said Father Reid offered the parish’s services for anyone affected by the storm but the parish had not received any requests.
Elizabeth Sabaj, office staff at St. Joseph Basilica in Webster, said they had no damage there and no one called seeking the parish’s help.
Before hearing storm warnings, “I was bringing communion to Christopher Heights,” an assisted living community in Webster, she said. She said some people got an alert on their phones and residents were brought into the hallways where there are no windows. She said she stayed about 20 minutes longer than usual before venturing out.