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South Carolina Rebuilding After Hurricane Hugo

Episcopal News Service. October 26, 1989 [89205]

NEW YORK, Oct. 25 -- A month after Hurricane Hugo devastated areas of South Carolina, people are beginning to emerge from a state of shock and begin the slow and painful process of putting their lives back together, according to Bishop Furman Stough, deputy for the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, after a three-day trip to the area.

"Many people still seem too stunned to talk about the experience," Stough said, "but there are also hopeful signs that the recovery is taking hold, that healing has begun."

Episcopal churches in the Charleston area suffered extensive damage. "The cathedral is a holy mess," Stough observed. High winds tore off part of the roof, and a falling piece of masonry punched a hole above the altar, allowing the heavy rains to devastate the chancel. Another heavy piece of the roof fell on the adjoining diocesan office building, and it had to be closed for extensive repairs. The Church Insurance Company estimated damage of about $2 million to the cathedral and at least a year for repairs.

Holy Communion lost its invaluable stained-glass windows, and the chancel was heavily damaged by water. St. Mark's and St. Stephen's suffered similar damage.

The hurricane has spawned new ecumenical relief efforts. Protestants, Catholics, and Jews formed the Tri-County Interfaith Response Ministry, housed at St. Thomas's Episcopal Church in North Charleston. The group, convened by St. Thomas' rector William Skilton, will coordinate assistance and services from government and nonprofit sources. The ministry hopes to keep a watchful eye to prevent individual victims of Hugo from "falling through the cracks."

"The church can help, not only with immediate relief, but also aid people as they are forced to shift the focus of their lives, to make some changes so they will not be as vulnerable in the future,"

Bishop Stough continued. Once the immediate needs are met it will be necessary to tackle the long-range recovery -- and that will raise many questions about the economic base of many communities. Stough mentioned McClellanville, up the coast from Charleston, a community almost completely dependent on the fishing industry. "The hurricane destroyed the whole community, not just the houses, but the livelihood of everyone in town," he said. The Presiding Bishop's Fund hopes to help those people look for some options, some diversification, he added.

"The most impressive church relief effort I saw was at the diocese's Camp Baskervill in Pawley's Island," Stough continued. "Tony Campbell's ministry there just shifted into high gear. He brought everyone together, and after some serious prayer, they started to feed people and rebuild homes," Stough added. As many as 900 hot lunches and 500 dinners were cooked in the camp's kitchen by volunteers in a single day. Trucks took food to other areas, and the camp stepped up its regular programs to provide medical care and other critical services. "I've never seen anything work quite that well," Stough said.

Relief efforts continue, but the recovery period, which will last for years, is just beginning. As Bishop William Gordon, serving as interim at St. Andrew's Church in Mt. Pleasant said, "We need the spiritual renewal of our lives amid the incredible testing of these days. If we put off spiritual refreshment while we take care of demanding material needs, we run the risk of depressing voids in our lives."