This was sent by Sr. Joanne Holloman, FMA provincial, shortly after 6:00 p.m. Sunday, concerning our sisters at St. John Neumann HS in Naples, Fla.:
Sr. Carmen just called a few minutes ago to let us know they are ok. They believe the heaviest part of the storm has passed. Things are calm now but they are preparing for the next wave of rain and wind.
There is some water in the building but not much. The Don Bosco statue went down but from what they can see it is not broken.
Their power was turned off purposely last night. They have the provisions they need including a makeshift chapel.
The sisters attribute their safety and the apparent, relative lack of damage to many prayers.
Further developments (Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 11-12):
Sr. Clare and I returned to Miami this morning. Both convent and school buildings remained intact. The worse of the storm is lots of fallen trees and debris, including blue crabs from the bay now living in our cafeteria breezeway. The main building was slammed by the water both rain and sea but again only sustained minimal water in classrooms through the bottom of doors on the 2nd and 3rd floor...next time we need to remember sand bags on those 2 floors.
The convent lost all its trees but we found we were one of the fortunate ones out of 8 million to still have power and water. We did leave a statue of Mary next to the air chiller behind the convent so maybe she had something to do with this!
Tomorrow we will have our maintenance men, cleaning company and 2 landscaping companies begin school cleanup!
All in all our ILS school community and neighbors have been spared the worst of Hurricane Irma and now she becomes part of our lives moving forward...thank you for all your prayers and support!
The sisters attribute their safety and the apparent, relative lack of damage to many prayers.
Further developments (Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 11-12):
From Sr. Joanne Holloman late on Monday: "Sr. Kim and Sr. Clare have power in the
convent. The houses of Naples and Tampa are still waiting for power. It
is a little miracle! None of our structures were compromised. Most of the
damage was outside. Clean up has begun and the sisters plan to reopen as soon
as they get power. It is also good to note that family and friends including
our Salesian Family are safe to our knowledge."
Late Monday (from
Sr. Kim in Miami)
Please
extend our gratitude to all our sisters who have been praying for us throughout
Hurricane Irma and now through the aftermath as we begin cleanup in
preparations for classes to resume as soon as reasonably possible.Sr. Clare and I returned to Miami this morning. Both convent and school buildings remained intact. The worse of the storm is lots of fallen trees and debris, including blue crabs from the bay now living in our cafeteria breezeway. The main building was slammed by the water both rain and sea but again only sustained minimal water in classrooms through the bottom of doors on the 2nd and 3rd floor...next time we need to remember sand bags on those 2 floors.
The convent lost all its trees but we found we were one of the fortunate ones out of 8 million to still have power and water. We did leave a statue of Mary next to the air chiller behind the convent so maybe she had something to do with this!
Tomorrow we will have our maintenance men, cleaning company and 2 landscaping companies begin school cleanup!
All in all our ILS school community and neighbors have been spared the worst of Hurricane Irma and now she becomes part of our lives moving forward...thank you for all your prayers and support!
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