HOQUIAM, Wash. — A lightning strike destroyed the steeple of Hoquiam’s Saron Lutheran First Presbyterian Church in Hoquiam early Wednesday morning.
Pieces of the steeple, built in 1928, were found more than a block away as a thunderstorm blew through Grays Harbor County.
No one was injured and Pastor Michelle de Beauchamp does not think the church or sanctuary suffered structural damage.
”I mean, if you want to say we are blessed that that's all it was,” de Beauchamp said.
In addition to destroying the steeple, the strike caused a water main to burst beneath the street in front of the church, and two stained-glass windows were cracked.
An engineer will inspect the building to determine if it suffered additional structural damage.
The church is on Hoquiam’s historic building registry.
de Beachamp said that within minutes of the incident, she was getting calls from volunteers and contractors willing to help clean up and make the necessary repairs.
de Beauchamp plans on delivering a message of hope during her Sunday sermon, which she hopes can happen inside her damaged church.
"People say things like, ‘Oh, it's bad omen to be struck by lightning,’" de Beauchamp said. "I'm saying this is a miracle in the sense that no one got injured and none of these businesses or homes around here got hit."
She was disappointed the lightning strike caused the church to cancel plans to feed approximately 80 people at a community meal on the ground floor Wednesday night.