Photos by Patrick McPartland/Staff Photographer - Father Daniel Fiebelkorn shows where the high water mark was as repairs to the buildings at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Silver Creek, are moving slowly after the buildings were damaged in flooding last year. The church is located between Walnut Creek and Silver Creek, both of which over flowed their banks by seven to eight feet.

Last August, severe thunderstorms and ensuing floods threatened Western New York. Gov. David A. Paterson declared a state disaster emergency to aid in assistance to Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Erie counties. Nine diocesan institutions suffered damage from flooding and lightning resulting in $1.3 million in damages. St. Joseph Church in Gowanda and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Silver Creek were hit the hardest.

Barb Swagler, religious education teacher at St. Stephen Parish on Grand Island, owns a cottage in Silver Creek that was not damaged, but she witnessed the debris that drifted down the creek as a result of the flood. When she told her students about the destruction, they decided to lend a hand.

“I explained what was going on at St. Joe’s. They were upset about it. They said nobody should go through this,” Swagler said.

The students from her fifth- and eighth-grade classes collected donations from the parishioners of St. Stephen’s. The fifth-grade girls made crosses out of beads and pipe cleaners to give to donors as a thank you. Over one weekend they collected more than $1,200.

“It was pretty amazing,” Swagler said. “People were very generous. The comments the kids got were so gratifying because people appreciated what the kids were trying to do.”

“I have to say I was rather overwhelmed because I didn’t know what the attitude of the parishioners would be, knowing that the communities were getting FEMA help and so forth, but we had a steady stream of people coming up to us after Mass and very thankful that we put it together,” said Cindy Kovacs, co-teacher of the fifth-grade class.

A small line drawn in pencil marks the high water mark of the 2009 flood at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Silver Creek.

Although no one in Western New York is a stranger to bad weather, the Grand Island students have not experienced anything that compares to what happened in the Southern Tier. Gowanda’s reservoir was destroyed leaving the town without water. Tri-County Memorial Hospital had to be evacuated. Two fatalities were attributed to the flood.

“When we drove down to St. Joe’s, especially in Gowanda, Father (Daniel Walsh, pastor of St. Joseph) actually took them into the basement of the parish hall and showed them the water levels, and showed them the kitchen that was totally gone. They had to buy new stoves and refrigerators. The floor had to be redone. I think the kids really came to terms with what really happened. They saw it in pictures, but until Father Dan took them into the basement, I don’t think they really understood what really happened.”

Grateful and impressed by the generosity of St. Stephen’s parishioners and children, Father Walsh and

Father Daniel Fiebelkorn stands in one of the classrooms where the flooring had to be ripped out.

Father Daniel Fiebelkorn, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, followed their lead and paid their gift forward, giving portions of it to needy families in the area.
Father Walsh has given gifts of $200-$300 to 20 people. Some have passed, insisting it be given to others in more need.

“Some people have come back to Church for that,” said Father Walsh. “I haven’t asked them why they’ve come back. I guess they see the Church has put some money where their mouth is, that we believe in charity.”

Insurance money has made dealing with the flood easier. All diocesan institutes are covered in case of flood. The parishes can expect 100 percent replacement of damaged property.
In a sermon and in conversation with others, Father Walsh reflected on the damage. “When I went around the town, I said, ‘There is a lot of damage here, but it is nothing compared to the damage caused by bad choices.’ And people would say, ‘You can say that again.’ Just like this can be cleaned up, with time and effort we can clean up our lives too. We were lucky we had insurance, and that made it a little bit easier to cope with. Your faith is a little like insurance. You might not think you need it, but when things happen that are out of your control, like a flood or a death or sickness, if you have your faith, it makes things a lot easier to cope with.”

Meanwhile he is still digging in corners of the church basement where the water had damaged records and other knick knacks.

“I thought it would be (done) in September. I thought it would be by Christmas. I don’t see any date. It just seems to be taking a long time to get equipment bought and installed,” he said.

Plaster inside of the church still breaks away do to water damge at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Silver Creek.

Sixteen miles to the west, the rectory of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Silver Creek is still unusable. The first floor was gutted out due to three feet of standing water, mud and debris inside the house. A portion of the walls was removed to dry things out. A lot of masonry work is on hold due to weather. After the flood, the church had 30 percent moisture in the walls and pews. Most of the water is now dissipating. Work on the walls and floor will have to wait until it is completely dried out. Pews have to be refinished. The parish is still worshiping in the church.
The school had asbestos tiles removed over Christmas. New flooring will be installed. Offices will be housed there, and a daily Mass chapel will be built in the school and dedicated to St. John Bosco. The former parish was merged with Mount Carmel in 2008. Some of the statues will be brought into the chapel. There is no timeline for the projects, but Father Fiebelkorn hopes to have things moving by February.

“You can see the scars from the flood, but people have pretty much gotten over focusing on those. It’s a beautiful church, but there is still quite a bit of damage that needs to be repaired,” he said.

Insurance has covered all the damages to the church, so he has given his half of the St. Stephen’s gift, as well as gifts from Christ the King Seminary’s Peace and Justice Committee, Catholic Charities and the Hamburg Presbyterian churches, back to the community.

“We’ve been trying to use donations like that to help families affected by the flood in the community who don’t have insurance to be able to do anything,” Father Fiebelkorn said.
Calling the gift from St. Stephen’s a wonderful surprise, Father Fiebelkorn has been overwhelmed by the reaction from the community that volunteered to help clean, and the support of the Diocesan Chancery.

“What really meant a lot to the people here was when Bishop (Edward U.) Kmiec and Msgr. (David G.)LiPuma came down to see the damage and meet with the people. They still talk about that. It was very reassuring to them,” he said.