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The First Presbyterian Church of Whippany sustained significant flood damage from hurricane Irene. Anything in or around the church that was touched by the water has to be either decontaminated or thrown out. There is lots of mud around, and this will require an extensive effort to clean up.
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As things are drying out, it is becoming more apparent what can be saved and what has been lost. The entire ground floor and basement were flooded. There was two and a half feet of water in fellowship hall, the kitchen, the senior high room, and in all of the classrooms used by Sunnyfields. The offices, library and sanctuary had about 6 to 8 inches of water. The boiler room was totally submerged, resulting in a total loss of those boilers. The freezers and refrigerators were rendered useless, and we are unsure at this time whether the ovens can be salvaged. We are very fortunate to have retained the services of a contractor, SERVPRO, who is experienced in flood remediation. They have received literally HUNDREDS of calls in the past few days. They chose to work on our project because we are past customers. Unfortunately, this work is going to be very expensive, and our flood insurance is not going to pay for all of it. The Presbytery does have a disaster assistance program, but at this time we are not sure how much they will be able to help us. Please pray for our church, our community, and for all those who have been working very hard to get this project moving. For now, we will worship the Lord at the Our Lady of Mercy Chapel on Whippany Road at the regular time of 10:15AM. We are unsure how long it will be until our sanctuary is useable again, but we expect it to be at least several weeks. Again, the air quality in the church is very poor, and could very easily cause health problems. PLEASE help your church by staying away at this time. Please do not come to the church to inspect the damage, as your presence may interfere with the work of the contractors. The building is unsafe, and has no fire protection system. Information and photos will be posted here as they become available. If you would like to make a contribution to help our church please call Pastor Don or make checks payable to the First Presbyterian Church of Whippany. |
Unfortunately, this is not the sort of work that can be performed by volunteers. The air quality in the church is very poor, and could very easily cause health problems. In addition, there is no fire protection and no water service in the building.