03 Jul The June 29 Storm in Findlay, Ohio

Darwin Dunten, senior pastor, Findlay First UB church (Findlay, Ohio)

Findlay, Ohio, is now in its fourth state of emergency in 5 years.

• In 2007, a flood covered 50% of the city and damaged the church.
• The 2008 flood covered one-third of the city.
• Last summer’s hail storm with baseball-size hail caused $50,000 damage to the church.
• And now the powerful storm of June 29 with 91 mph winds.

The south end of Findlay is decimated. 19,000 Findlay residence do not have power and are not expected to have power until July 7. Findlay First church was not damaged during this story. However, we did have to cancel the July 1 services due to lack of power, trees down, and power lines down.

I toured the south end of town, and it reminds me of a blizzard with snow piled up on the side of the street, but instead of snow, these are trees. Many 4–5 foot diameter trees are snapped at the base. At the Boy Scout camp, once again, large trees are snapped.

I am starting to hear some stories from my church members and how fortunate we are. One church member had a tree limb crash through her roof and land on her husband’s bed. Another church member was working at the Boy Scout camp and was getting the scouts into shelters when a tree crashed (he said) one foot in front of him. One tree landed and a branch pierced the roof of the cabin and landed on a bed. Another member had houses next to her with roofs severely damaged, and hers was fine. One block away, one of her neighbors had no roof or ceiling in their house. We are thankful for God’s protection.

My office has been moved to McDonalds (the only place with internet and power).

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How did the storm affect your church? Let us know.