When strong storms swept through the Chicago area on July 27, the south and southwest suburbs suffered the most damage from wind and hail.
That included some parish facilities, according to archdiocesan and parish officials.
At St. Damian Parish in Oak Forest, staff members were eating lunch in a conference room in the parish’s pastoral center when the wind picked up and the skies darkened dramatically, said Donna Kay, the parish business manager.
Staff members returned to their offices to shut down computers in case of a power outage, Kay said.
Only minutes after they left the conference room, a tree trunk smashed through the window.
“We’re totally convinced divine intervention saved us,” she said.
At around the same time, staff members working with children in a summer camp program in the school building moved all their charges into a central hallway, away from windows. While the children were hunkered down in the hall, several tree limbs came through the ceiling of one of the classrooms, Kay said.
“We definitely feel like our guardian angels were flying close to us,” she said.
According to the National Weather Service, there were at least seven confirmed tornadoes in the Chicago metropolitan area that afternoon. But the worst of the damage in the south and southwest suburbs was caused by straight-line winds of 80 to 100 mph.
In the days following the storm, the parish was assessing damage and figuring out what the cleanup and reconstruction would take.
Kay said she was able to get the parish insurance representative from Gallagher Basset on the phone an hour after the storm.
“I knew to keep that phone number handy,” she said.
A power outage in the pastoral center took out the sump pumps, so there was water in the basement that needed to be cleaned up, she said, as well as having the window in the parish center boarded up and the hole in the roof of the school covered to avoid further water damage.
Two days after the storm, the rectory power was still out, Kay said. An emergency gas generator was keeping the rectory sump pump running, because the rectory has a finished basement.
Crews were scheduled to assess the school roof to decide how much work it would need to be safe.
A representative of the archdiocesan planning and construction office said they work with parishes to help them navigate the insurance claims process and find the resources they need.
About 20 miles northwest of St. Damian, St. John of the Cross School in Western Springs had hail about the size of golf balls break 20 of 26 skylights, as well as damaging several cars in the parish parking lots.
Jim Hahn, director of facilities for the parish, said he was able to seal them with adhesive as a temporary measure while the parish works with its insurance company for a permanent repair.