That sucked.

Here's an amazing film, where you get to see right up into the tornado from directly below

More pictures of Victoria St. United Church. It looks like a total loss.

http://vitalonga.tumblr.com/post/9227498275/photo-by-dani-milburn-today-my-beloved-hometown

That's a beautiful house of G_d there, DKS -- have you ever been there?

And tornados are really weird -- I notice some winders still intact.  I wonder what the inside looks like...

I'm about 90 minutes north of Goderich. Yes, I've been there. 1 death now reported.

This is terrible. Prayers for the people of Goderich.

It was a weird weather day - we were driving home from Haliburton area - very patchy skies & unusual clouds.   Sorry to see the damage in Goderich - it's a lovely community.  That church photo is pretty awful.

More pictures

My thoughts are also with the people of Goderich.

It's amazing how some buildings were seemingly untouched but the ones next door were totally destroyed. My prayers are with the people whose lives have been forever changed by this storm.

somegalfromcan,

tornadoes do that.  A lot of the damage from tornados come from the fact that the air pressure inside of a dwelling becomes higher than the air pressure outside (being lowered by the tornado), so the dwelling literally explodes through the weakest parts.

The winds can be highly localized as well, so a motor home can be safe while all around it the places are demolished.  Tornados can also be in multiple vortices, which is more than one tornado moving as one...these are the craziest of them all, just imagine all those different wind velocities going around at the same time.

There have also been reports of other strange aftereffects, like bits of straw through trees or splinters into bricks.

People have actually survived riding in tornadoes.

EDIT:  that ribbon is the actual tornado -- that's the bit with the highest wind speed.

The pressure in the centre of a tornado is typically -1.5 psi.  The typical pressure inside a dwelling is 14 psi, so when the tornado goes over a dwelling, it usually does this VERY QUICKLY, so there isn't enough time for the dwelling to adapt to the incredible load...soo BOOM, out go the windows, doors, walls and then this debris is carried pell mell around the place...

Goderich (along with nearby Kincardine and Port Elgin) is one of my favourite places to visit in the summertime. The area of the uptown that seems to have taken quite a hit was part of what made Goderich unique. Old architecture coupled with the stores placed in a circle with the city hall in the middle made it charming. St. Christophers beach with it's "boardwalk" is a beautiful place to watch the Lake Huron sunsets. Goderich sits on a cliff, and you have to take the roads down to a lower elevation to the beach, so I was surprised that this tornado came off the lake to destroy parts of the town, but alas, "Mother Nature" has her own rules. It's the typical beachside community with a small population that swells in the summertime from tourists. I'm sure much of the town's revenue depended on tourism.

My heart breaks when I see the devastation and I can only imagine the sense of loss that the people of Goderich are experiencing, yet I'm sure they are grateful that more lives were not lost.

My prayers are with the people as they collect their thoughts and form a strategy together to recover from this.

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Goderich as they deal with this tragedy and devastation.  

My prayers are with all those with Goderich ties... 

any day it could be us... I watched the black black clouds pass over us and into Toronto the same day - we've had down-drafts and micro-bursts that have caused damage, but somehow have been spared an actual tornado.  Vaughn's tornado 2 years ago was equally frightening (saw the clouds gathering) but not near the damage.

So sad for Goderich, and for our friends at the United Church.  Praying for smooth organizing and bright ideas that will sweep away the mess and get them up and going again.

Oh wow, I had no idea. We've been camping for the past three days and have not heard any news.

Praying for the good people of Goderich. Sorry to see the church and other buildings so badly damaged.

A candle for Normand Laberge and his family, who was working in the world's largest salt mine.

Does anyone know if there has been any thought of the wider church supporting the congregation of Victoria Street United Church? Were there are other churches also damaged? North Street United Church is not far off the Square, as is the Catholic Church.

Vic St. United was the only one I saw mentioned anywhere, so maybe with fingers crossed they are the only ones who suffered serious damage.

Funny - I posted my last post before the earthquake that hit Virginia and rattled as far as Sudbury and New Brunswick.  Wow.  Thank goodness for small impact.

Birthstone,

just you wait till a sizeable asteroid hits a populated area (which has happened in prehistoric times), that'll make an impact.  I'm glad that some countries are getting off their fundaments and actually working to deal with this real danger.  G_d bless China :3

No Baptist church was hit as far as I can find out.

I certainly think the wider church should help out those who were damaged.

The National web site has updates, including a video.

http://www.united-church.ca/communications/news/general/110823b

The other United Church, North St., was not damaged.

I have been holding the people of Goderich, including those connected to Victoria St UC in my thoughts. So sad, such devastation.

A news story today on CKNX (not on their web site) said that Victoria St. United Church is awaiting word from their insurer on whether the church will be repaired or replaced.

They will be in my prayers, as well. I have spent much time over the years in Goderich, as my godparents' summer cabin is near Lucknow. The Book Peddlar pictured above is one of my fav used book stores.

I heard on CBC that a team of 60 Mennonites were there specifically to help clear away debris, trees, etc.

God bless the Mennonites eh.  

I found this article online about the church and thought I would share it:

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/583249--minister-says-destroyed-church-will-rise-again

If the +1 feature was still available, I would have used it for Kay's post!

The United Church is now receiving funds for the community of Goderich.

http://www.united-church.ca/communications/news/general/110825

Thanks DKS:

Yes! Our amazing Philanthropy unit director, David Armour, has been able to get a really effective online donation process up and running so that the Conference can focus on applying the funds, rather than the administration of processing donations. 

Welcome. The one huge error on the web page is that it fails to note that, as usual, people can give to their local church and mark the cheque "Goderich Tornado Relief". We then write the receipt for the person and forward the money to the United Church. That wasn't noted and should be. It relieves national office of any burden of paperwork and 100% of the funds go to the intended focus. And not everyone has internet or trusts making a charitable donation by credit card.  All the bases have to be covered.

I pass that along, David.

Thank you, Martha.

Hi David: We have revised the page to include local congregations as a conduit for donations and will post more info next week  - have a good weekend!

Thank you, Kate. For those of us with church offices which are open M-F/9- (and I recognize not all churches are; in fact we are the only downtown church in our city that does) it can be a useful traffic builder.

OOPS! The web site says this:

Shouldn't the cheque be written to the local congregation and marked "Goderich Tornado Relief"? That way we can issue the tax receipt directly. Otherwise we can't cash the cheque.

i heard about this too... thankful that only one death resulted.

well, sorry that there was one life lost. 

that came out wrong.

i hope you know what i mean.

From The United Church of Canada Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/UnitedChurchCda)

The post-tornado clean-up is well underway in Goderich, Ontario. This week what remains of the homes and heritage buildings including Victoria Street United will be demolished. On Sunday, just a week after a deadly tornado hit, over 700 people gathered for an inspiring ecumenical service.

What is the future of Victoria St. United? Will they rebuild? Amalgamate?

You'd have to ask their church board. Probably via presbytery, as the board is clearly not centrally located just now.

@DKS, there hasn't been any decisions about the future of Victoria St. United announced as far as I know. I will watch for any word though.

From Twitter:

RT @leslieswartman: The beautiful old United Church is slated for demolition. http://t.co/FItQnEN

(The United Church of Canada on Twitter: @unitedchurchcda)

oh my gosh, that is so sad...

i'd feel devastated if my home church had to be destroyed...

my thoughts and prayers are with them all.

The last word was that they were awaiting an engineer and insurance report. Life is brutal at times.

The bigger and unspoken issues are the pastoral care issues in Goderich. In Walkerton Ont, eleven years ago, when people died when the water supply was contaminated (and Walkerton is about the size of Goderich), the pastoral care load was absolutely phenomenal. Our hospital chaplain found that instead of turning to the government provided mental health care, people went to local clergy. What we discovered was that within two years every single minister in every church in Walkerton had either moved away (sought a new call or been reassigned by their bishop) or had died.

that is an interesting stat there, dks...  i have NEVER heard of that before.

is there anything any of us can do at all??

It would be wonderful if they are close enough to amalgamate and get the insurance money...that, once you get past the shock....and dependent on the insurance and the amount of pastoral care avaialble, etc..might actually be a gift to some communities.

If it is possible.  SOmetimes the insurance only pays to rebuild.  I know of a business in my settlment charge that had to be rebuilt after it burned--only to close immediately afterward.

That's the other unspoken issue. The toll on the congrgation. A friend of mine was the minister at Minnedosa MB when that church burned. The fire brought out all the strange dynamics in the community. He was gone in a year. I followed a minister who had been called to Campbellton NB after their fire in 1985. He lasted a year and went on disability after a heart attack.

Many clergy are not trained in issues of PTSD and how to deal with it, much less know how to help themselves.

This is truly sad:  Those that provide comfort have no place to seek comfort for themselves.

I see this in the health profession where caregiving is also part of the role - I would think that this is an area that should be part of the training process.

LB

---------------------

Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what's more than enough.

     Billie Holiday

this has kind of been the elephant in the room whenever i discuss the issue of clergy taking on a counselling role...

i recall one sermon i heard by a UCC minister years ago where he discussed mental illness, and proceeded to rip apart some of the techniques that trained therapists use as somehow lacking, and even laughable.  i was kind of shocked to hear him do this... i am not a trained therapist myself, but i have worked as a psych nurse.  i know first hand how well these techniques work when used by someone who knows what they are doing.  i was able to discuss this with the minister at one point, and he just brushed it off, saying that as far as he was concerned these techniques were useless and insulting.

it REALLY highlighted to me how lacking these ministers are when it comes to the training needed to deal with people who are really struggling.  i have always been very wary of clergy in this light...

imho, there is a very fine line between a good minister and a crappy or even dangerous psychiatric therapist.  the clergy have to be VERY aware of their limitations when it comes to dealing with psychological issues and trauma, and make sure they don't cross that line - the damage that can be done is very real.

Does the insurance money have to be used to rebuild a church or could it be used for something church related? (such as a retreat with a labrynth and garden, or homeless shelter with food bank?)

 waterfall: it depends ENTIRELY on the insurance coverage, what any monies due the pastoral charge can be used for. Those are all very good ideas.

In my neighbourhood, All Saints Anglican burned down in...07? and now is a lovely cemetery (the cemetery was there already) garden, with benches and pathways and a gazebo-type structure.  Insurance money may not have been an issue: the priest burned it down...long story.

I'd like everyone reading this thread to remind ministry personnel they know who are working for the United Church there IS an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for them. The issues of dealing with PTSD, in yourself and those you are providing pastoral care for is an area that the EAP provider is equipped to At Least recognize. There are resources and more assistance available if the issues are more profound. 

Contact the EAP: 1-800-387-4765 ; online at www.shepellfgi.com

For ministry personnel interested in what guidelines  there are in place for offering counseling to congregants, a resource was recently developed and is available online ( http://www.united-church.ca/files/handbooks/pastoral_counselling.pdf) or from UCRD (http://www.ucrdstore.ca/)