A week after Hurricane Wilma swept across Florida, the Diocese of Southeast Florida was still struggling to get information on the status of its 83 congregations.

More than 1.5 million households and businesses in south Florida were without electricity, and telephone service, both landlines and cellular, were intermittent at best in many areas.

Few gas stations were open; without electricity, pumps can’t operate. With fuel in short supply, it was difficult for diocesan staff to check on the condition of churches and for clergy to get to their parishioners.

Power was restored at the diocesan office, where staff members have been working on a rotating basis to avoid excessive commuting until gas is more readily available.

Because of damage to telephone lines, the diocesan website is unavailable. A temporary webpage, hosted by the Diocese of Maine, is providing post-Wilma updates at www.diomaine.org/diosef.html.

All diocesan meetings and events scheduled through Nov. 3 have been postponed, and a new date has not been set for the diocesan convention, which was postponed from Oct. 21-22 because of the threat of the storm.

The good news is that most clergy who have been contacted report no catastrophic damage, although some churches have moderately severe damage and several will probably need new roofs. Trees are down, there are missing shingles and roof tiles, and there is debris everywhere.

At Trinity Cathedral, Miami, a window was blown out of the cathedral hall and landed, almost intact, in the parking lot of the diocesan office.

Quick action on the part of cathedral sexton Ernest Gipson “saved seven bishops,” said the interim dean, the Rev. Robert Libby. Mr. Gipson, whose apartment is over the cathedral hall, heard the crash and ran downstairs in time to rescue the portraits of bishops of Southeast Florida and the old Diocese of South Florida that hung near the window.

The Rev. Denise Hudspeth, priest-in-charge of two small congregations in Pahokee and Belle Glade, reported that although damage to the church buildings was not significant, she is concerned for her parishioners and their communities.

In Pahokee, fallen trees have made even major roads impassable and houses and cars have been crushed.

Members of the Haitian community in Belle Glade, many of them farm workers, were hit hard, Ms. Hudspeth said. “Many of them fled, and those who stayed have no food — nothing.”

She is concerned also for the jobs of those who work in the sugarcane fields, because the storm flattened much of the cane.

Ms. Hudspeth hoped to be able to set up a distribution center for relief supplies at St. John’s, Belle Glade.

There is equally severe damage in the lower Keys. At. St. Columba’s, Marathon, storm surge soaked the church carpet and destroyed everything stored on the ground level of the rectory. At St. Francis-in-the-Keys, Big Pine Key, the Rev. Chris Todd, rector, and his family had three family cars ruined by the rising water.

Parishioners of the two Key West congregations, St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s, also lost cars to the flooding. Some had more than five feet of seawater in their homes and have lost everything.

Episcopal Relief and Development is sending a $25,000 emergency grant, and parishes in the neighboring dioceses of Southwest Florida and Central Florida have offered donations and volunteer work teams.

Church of the Good Shepherd, Punta Gorda, which suffered devastating damage from Hurricane Charlie last year, is working with Ms. Hudspeth to provide supplies for her churches to distribute in their wounded communities. Another Southwest Florida parish may also help in this effort.

The Rev. John Liebler, rector of St. Andrew’s, Fort Pierce, emailed an offer of work teams ready to be on the job “with a few days’ notice.” He noted a history of mutual help in hurricane season: “St. Andrew's, Fort Pierce, helped [in Miami] after Hurricane Andrew. St. Stephen's, Coconut Grove, helped us after Frances/Jeanne. We are there for you…”

The diocese is accepting donations for hurricane relief. Checks made payable to Diocese of Southeast Florida and marked for “hurricane relief” can be mailed to: Diocese of Southeast Florida, 525 NE 15 St., Miami, FL 33161.

Mary Cox

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