Saturday storms leave Central Florida church damaged
FRUITLAND PARK, Fla. - Storms in Fruitland Park on Saturday left a church damaged.
The Covenant of Life Church of God was damaged during bad weather on Saturday, and some people were inside when it happened.
The roof was seriously damaged, with big sections of the top ripped away.
The church wrote on their Facebook that seven of their members were inside when this happened. The group was said to be shaken up badly by the force of the storm.
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Thankfully though, no one was injured, they confirmed.
Cindy Green was inside all when it happened and said that the fierce winds hit quickly, telling FOX 35, "the walls started to tremble," and "we started to hear a noise. The attic accesses venting from the attic all of a sudden opened up and insulation came down through. Like a whiteout, like a blizzard."
Afterwards, there was debris everywhere. She said that "when we walked outside there was littered across the field pieces of the roof... and dead birds were laying on the grass."
This is all happening at a bad time for the church community there. They were just kicking off a celebration that they call 'Heritage Week.'
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They are getting help as they rebuild. Nearby Trinity Assembly, less than a mile up the street, opened their doors to the congregation to worship together on Sunday morning.
"We're supposed to fellowship together and help our brothers out," said Chuck Padgett, Trinity Assembly’s pastor. "That's what we're here to do this morning, is to give them a place to worship and enter in together and worship."
Church leaders said the costs to repair the damage will be substantial but they do have insurance and they will rebuild.
"Our building's battered, we're battered," Green said. "But that can be fixed."
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