Originally published at National Catholic Register
Hurricane Milton made landfall on the west coast of Florida Oct. 9, with winds of up to 180 mph, making a direct hit on the Tampa area of the state for the first time in a century and just two weeks after Hurricane Helene struck the region.
The damage was extensive in the Catholic Dioceses of St. Petersburg and Venice, Helene primarily through its storm surge and Milton through its heavy winds. While destruction has been widespread, cleanup is underway, and the rebuilding process has begun.
Thi Nguyen is from Saigon in South Vietnam and emigrated to the U.S. in 1994. He’s lived in the Tampa area for the past 30 years and said the storms were the worst he’d ever experienced. Of Milton, he recalled, “From about 8 p.m. Wednesday night until the early morning Thursday, it was very scary hearing the rain and watching the trees sway in the wind.”
Although his home sat on high ground and avoided serious damage, the following afternoon he went to check on his church, St. Joseph Vietnamese parish in Tampa in the Diocese of St. Petersburg, and found the church, gymnasium and education building flooded in waist-deep water. The diocese moved quickly,
