Hail storm damages Central Missouri church buildings

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Less than 15 minutes of severe weather caused about $5 million worth of damage to Catholic Church property in Central Missouri March 27.

Hailstones as large as grapefruits landed on the roofs of parish buildings of the Cathedral of St. Joseph and St. Peter in Jefferson City, Most Pure Heart of Mary in Chamois, St. Jude Thaddeus in Mokane, Church of the Risen Savior in Rhineland/Starkenburg and St. Martin in St. Martins, as well as the Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center in Jefferson City.

Most of the repair costs are covered by insurance.

Brad Copeland, diocesan director of buildings and properties, along with insurance adjusters inspected the damaged roofs and will work with parishes on repair and restoration.

Bids for repairing several properties are already being sought.

The cathedral’s copper and rubber roof will have to be replaced, as will the roofs of the parish school and rectory.

Skylights over the cathedral vestibule, sacristy and cry room were also damaged.

Across town, the roofs of St. Peter Church, the school, rectory and parish hall were all compromised by the hail and will have to be replaced.

“All of the roofs on our parish buildings received significant impacts from the hailstorm,” said Father Jeremy Secrist, pastor. “Four windows on the apse of the church were broken, and the church tower received further damage.”

Pieces of broken clay roofing tiles fell into the alleys next to the church during the storm. The alleys remain off-limits to visitors.

“All of the church and the entire steeple will have to be scaffolded” for the repairs to take place, Fr. Secrist noted.

Near the cathedral, the Catholic Center’s roof will require replacement, which will include lifting two heavy heating and air-conditioning units, according to Mr. Copeland.

Rhineland parishioner and parish secretary Brenda Van Booven said the hail heavily damaged the roofs of all Church of the Risen Savior parish’s buildings, including the church and rectory in Rhineland and the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows, the log shrine, the St. Martin Church Museum and Valentine Hall in Starkenburg.

The roofing tiles on the shrine, which was completed in 1910, are original, she said.

She said the shrine’s parking lot was covered in evergreen branches the morning after the storm.

“It smelled beautiful, but there was widespread damage to the trees,” she said.

Father David Means, pastor of Most Pure Heart of Mary parish in Chamois and Assumption parish in Morrison, said his rectory in Chamois had sustained some hail damage.

Likewise, “metal roofs on the church, parish hall, and fry shack were dented and dinged,” he said.

Two stained glass windows appear to have been hit by hail, he stated.

“The hall and fry shack’s gutters were damaged,” he added. “Some hail even went right through some weak, thin metal.”

Mr. Copeland said it’s essential for the roofs to get repaired in order to keep rainwater from seeping in and causing further damage.

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