Chamon Williams remembers the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021 and how back then, Catholic Charities of Jackson, Mississippi, helped the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana. Now, she is working to return the favor as a water crisis hits Mississippi’s capital city.
Grief turned to joy Monday, AUG. 22 when Bishop Robert Brennan joined St. Mary’s of Winfield Parish in the rededication of the lower church, which has been remade into a conference center. The celebration capped a year-long struggle to reverse the damage wrought by 10 feet of floodwater from Hurricane Ida.
Bishop Robert Brennan is set to visit St. Mary’s of Winfield, Monday evening, Aug. 22, to bless the chapel and the rest of the lower church, which now includes a conference center. Last year, Hurricane Ida deluged Woodside, Queens; 10 feet of water covered parts of St. Mary’s and flooded the lower church.
When St. Sebastian Catholic Academy teacher Stephanie Marchetti’s apartment in Middle Village was flooded by the remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sept. 1, she had a surprising savior.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is asking the faithful in Brooklyn and Queens to support parishioners and parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn affected by Hurricane Ida by contributing to a voluntary second collection at Mass this weekend, Sept. 25.
Leticia Orta lost nearly everything when the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded her basement apartment in Woodside on the night of Sept. 1. But she hasn’t lost her faith.
One can’t blame Father Christopher O’Connor for having a reaction to a weather forecast calling for rain, especially after what he and his parishioners at St. Mary’s Winfield Church went through on Sept. 1 when the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded the church.
The floodwaters of Hurricane Ida have receded. Now, for churches and schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn among many other sites, comes the hard part — cleaning up.
Catholic Charities in and around the areas of Louisiana and Mississippi affected by Hurricane Ida — one of the most powerful storms to hit the continental U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — are collecting donations as they prepare to help with the yet-unknown damage caused by the late August storm.
After the winds from Hurricane Ida peeled off the roof of the seven-story apartment building in Metairie, Louisiana, Aug. 29, St. Francis Xavier Church — across the street from the apartment building — was transformed into an emergency shelter for 34 residents, even though the parish had also lost electrical power.
