St. Josaphat's Damaged Spire in Detroit

Storm damage seems to be our theme lately . . . above is an amazing video of the damaged spire of St. Josaphat's church in Detroit.  If you've driven through Detroit on I-75, you have probably seen the landmark.

Storm at Cloverdale

The small parish of St. Barbara's in Cloverdale (between Defiance and Lima) had their church almost leveled in yesterday's storm.  From their Facebook page:

Please pray for the Cloverdale community and our St. Barbara's parish. For those of you who have not heard exactly what happened, our church has been almost completely leveled by the storm and the rectory badly damaged (the parish hall is still standing). The front entrance of the church is still standing but the rest is gone. The back shrine with the holy family and St Barbara statue is still intact and the votive candles are actually still burning. The tabernacle with Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament has been buried in the rubble, so pray that we will be able to get it out so Fr. Jerry can make sure the Eucharist is not lost. Again, please pray for the community, as there is much sorrow and grief over the loss of such a great temple

Link to video: click HERE.

Storm Damage - St. Mary Norwalk

In the recent storms that moved their way through Ohio, Norwalk was hit particularly hard, with many damaged buildings and homes. The First Baptist Church (Oasis of God) had one of it's turrets blown off (see picture from wkyc.com). It was reported that winds of up to 100 mph blew through the area.


St. Mary's in Norwalk was also damaged. Much of the masonry at the top of the tower was disturbed. Some even fell to the ground and onto the church roof, causing damage to the roof and plaster ceiling inside. The damage is severe enough that the streets surrounding the church are closed in case of further structural failure, and all masses and other events have been moved to the school gym. See the Norwalk Reflector article below:

http://www.norwalkreflector.com/article/3743856

Interestingly enough, this is not the first time the steeple has suffered wind damage. A wind storm in the 50's damaged the original ornamentation at the base of the steeple. See the below blog post for a picture.

http://catholictoledo.blogspot.com/2007/04/st-mary-norwalk_20.html

Plans for the future of the steeple and tower are to be determined. See below for pictures of the exterior damage. Note the masonry that is shifted, missing or pulling away from the structure. Extensive interior damage was also noted by engineers. I do not have any pictures of interior damage at this point in time.

I will post an update once further plans are outlined. Until then, updates of the situation can be followed on the parish's Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Mary-Mother-of-the-Redeemer-Catholic-Church/188089864270

(Photo: Mike Doughty)

(Photo: Mike Doughty)

(Photo: Janotta & Herner)

(Photo: Janotta & Herner)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news, this is what it looks like when a steeple starts to come down:

St. James Catholic Church, Chicago IL. (After a long delayed promise of posting, here is one picture. I will make a detailed post when demolition is completed.)