Ike Recovery Underway at Galveston’s Trinity Church

Today, many Galvestonians are returning to the island for the first time since Hurricane Ike inundated us on September 13.  Others have already gone back under the "look and leave" policy.  Members of Trinity Church and our neighbors have sustained enormous losses.  It is a painful situation and it will take time to recover from both the shock and the physical damage.  This is a time for us to grieve together and offer spiritual support.

To help us do that, we need to worship together.  It will be at least four weeks before Trinity can be ready for us to return.  The remediation process involves removal of contaminated contents, drying, some demolition, and cleansing with antimicrobial chemicals.  When that is completed, air quality tests are performed to determine if it is safe for public use.

The Rev. Lillian Hyde has invited us to worship at St. George's Church in Texas City on Sundays at 9:00 a.m.  The regular St. George's services are at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m..  This is wonderful news!  We will be ablel to see one another and be strengthened in the hearing of God's Word and in the Body and Blood of Christ as we walk together through this very difficult time.

While this is definitely a painful situation, it is not a hopeless one.  You need to know that the people who have rushed to Galveston to beging
the recovery process and prepare for our return are doing a remarkable
job!

The water hurt us worse than the wind.  The rising water was heavily contaminated and everything it touched is likewise contaminated.  Remediation specialists are everywhere pulling damaged contents out of buildings, removing sheetrock, pulling up flooring, and drying things out.

Crews are moving up and down the streets with large trucks and heavy equipment removing mountains of debris stacked by the curbs and moving it quickly to the vacant county land on Broadway where the cotton compresses were near the new Galveston County Justice Center.

Insurance companies are handling calls and sending claims adjusters to meet with residents and business owners.  Church Insurance Co. has assigned representatives to the coastal area and they are doing a fantastic job bringing in remediation crews who are documenting everything they find.  Fr. David Dearman has posted some new photos of the remediation crews at work at Galveston's Trinity Church and School.  Other photos are posted on the Trinity Church website.

Jim Hauser of Willet Hauser Art Glass Studio will be at Trinity Church on Tuesday of next week with a crew to begin the process of removing the Sealy Altar Window.  It will be packed and taken to the studio for repair and restoration.

Architect Joe Oppermann and structural engineer Patrick Sparks inspected Trinity yesterday and are preparing a report that will be important to us as we pull things back together.

Ron Wyatt has contacted Austin Organ Company and arranged for one of their top organ builders to come next week to assess any damage that our pipe organ may have sustained so that repairs can begin immediately.

Bishop Don Wimberly, the Diocese of Texas, and the national Church are moving quickly to provide assistance on every level of the life of all thirty-five congregations in our diocese that were impacted by Hurricane Ike.

I am receiving phone calls and email from all over America with offers of volunteers and funds to help rebuild.  We are working on plans for coordination of those efforts and have established a Hurricane Ike Recovery Fund.  The diocesan website has a donate button as does our own Trinity Church website.

Thousands of people in bucket trucks are restoring electrical and telelphone service.  City crews are attending to repairs to traffic signals, the water system and the sanitary sewer system.  Mayor Thomas has testified before a Senate committee and requested $2.4 billion in relief aid. 

The United States Postal Service has held our mail at the sorting facility in North Houston.  I went there yesterday to pick up mail and was greeted and assisted by numerous postal service workers from all over Texas.  Starting today, Wednesday, our mail may be picked up at the Outlet Mall in LaMarque.  Trinity Church mail has been temporarily forwarded to the Diocesan Center in Downtown Houston.  If you need to send a contribution or anything else to the church by mail, just continue to use the 2216 Ball address!

Also, the news media is providing us with coverage that will aid us in recovery and lift our spirits.

Yesterday's and today's Galveston County Daily News contain helpful articles and information those who are returning to the island need to know.

The Houston Chronicle ran a feature regarding Galveston Churches yesterday, with special attention to Trinity.

Take heart!  Hold hands!  Have hope!  As St. Paul wrote to Timothy, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

God is blessing us all in so many ways.

Ron+