Even the Bible flooded – church loses about $6K

Pastor Walter Mendonca during a cleanup operation at the church

Normality is returning to the St William’s Catholic Church in Road Town that was flooded severely last Monday during heavy rainfall, which also resulted in the sanctuary losing Bibles and various other items valued at some $6,000.

The building was not ready to accommodate worshipers on the weekend despite five days of cleansing, said the pastor, Father Walter Mendonca.

He said the most productive day in terms of cleansing was last Saturday, considering that church members either had their own clean-up to do at home or were told initially to stay off the streets.

“The water in the church was about four to five feet high and all the debris, mud entered the church, our kitchen… Bible copies, other books, hymns were all destroyed. Our musical instrument, speakers, mikes and projector all destroyed. Many more of our vestments can’t be used anymore. Some of our wooden doors are gone – water soaked,” Pastor Mendonca further explained.

“Our cistern was very bad – all the water we depend on from the cistern was filled with mud. It took us all four days to clean that cistern – four days. Everything is a mess – complete mess. I would say about $6,000 was lost [as a result of the flooding].”

Persons take a break from the cleanup operation

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