Palo Church conditions, June 18

If you enter the church through the front door, everything looks normal. The only indication of anything wrong is the dampness and the musty smell.

Look down the steps and you see the problem. The water in the basement reached the top of the door at the bottom of the sanctuary steps. That's a height of over 6 feet. When I was in the church today at 3:30, the water level in the basement was about 5.5 inches. I spoke with Dick Bull, who has several large pumps and had offered to drain the water. It appears the water is finding its own way out through the floor and/or foundation. So, we'll wait and see if it will drain by itself. I will check the level again tomorrow afternoon. If it's not dropping, we'll pump it. If we're lucky, it may be gone. The walls outside the church appear normal and the drop of water inside would indicate that there's no danger of the foundation collapsing.

However, regardless of how the water gets out, we need to deal with the mess it leaves behind.

It's probably safe to say that everything in the basement is lost. The refrigerators are laying face down. The cabinets and counters have floated away. The TV is under water - every chair is muddy. Every table has been moved. At a level of 6 feet, the water touched everything, including the Christmas tree on top of the folding chair rack. Actually, that rack is probably the only thing that's in the same spot. Even the sinks have been moved.

We need people to come to the church Saturday morning to help us move everything out. There will be a lot of junk, but we also need people to look at what needs to be saved. We'll need volunteers to take dishes home and wash them. We'll need to have all of the folding chairs and tables washed. We also need to decide on the paneling and carpet - whether to rip it all out or try to clean it.

We have a FEMA case number, but we're not covered by any insurance and I doubt we'll be eligible for anything from the government other than a small business loan. I don't yet know what the Iowa Annual Conference may be able to provide in terms of financial assistance.

Please be watching for an update tomorrow evening on the water level and the plan for Saturday. Plus, I will finalize the location for the Sunday worship service.

Thanks.

John
(Rev. John Howerton is Pastor of the Palo UMC)