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.
The cleanup and rebuilding of St. Mary’s Winfield Church in Woodside following the massive rainstorm that flooded the building on Sept. 1 will have to be measured in months, not weeks, the pastor said.
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.
