Hurricane Damages Church Property
Diocesan Press Service. August 22, 1969 [78-15]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Early reports from Mississippi tell of heavy damage to Episcopal Church property by Hurricane Camille, according to the Rev. Raymond E; Maxwell, Executive Council secretary for World Relief and Interchurch Aid.
Maxwell said the destruction and damage to churches, parish houses, rectories, and schools were "enormous." Four church buildings, four rectories, two schools and one parish house were completely destroyed, and five other structures severely damaged.
Maxwell also reported that one clergyman's wife was a victim of the storm. She was Mrs. Durrie B. Hardin, wife of the rector of Trinity Church, Pass Christian, Miss., who was killed when the rectory was struck.
Five thousand dollars has been sent by Executive Council to the Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Bishop of Mississippi. Materials and supplies have been shipped by Church World Service, an inter-Church relief agency which includes the Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Canon Frederick J. Bush, Jr., canon to the ordinary in Mississippi, said that officials were just beginning to assess the damage in the Diocese, and that the work was complicated by the lack of communications. Eighty thousand telephones are out of order in the stricken area.
"And we can't even guess how many members of the Church were killed," he said.
The Dioceses of Alabama, Florida and Louisiana, also in the hurricane area, have reported that damage in those areas was not nearly as great as in Mississippi.