WESTFIELD – It has now been nearly two weeks since flash flooding ravaged the communities of Westfield and Knoxville in far northwestern Tioga County on August 9, 2024.
Unbelievable damage was left behind when the fast-moving waters receded.
“Here in Westfield was almost the epicenter of the damage. A tremendous number of homes have been lost. We had one life lost in Knoxville. A friend of mine and as of today he has not been found yet. He was washed away by the storm helping some elderly neighbors of his get out of their home,” Ralph Wolstenholme, a parishioner of Saint Catherine of Siena Church in Westfield, explained.
In the wake of homes literally being washed off their foundation, the community has not lost hope.
Neighbors have been rallying around one another to begin picking up the pieces.
“The hope that has come from this is incredible. Driving in here right after the damage, to come in and help, you saw people just coming in, saying ‘How do I get to where the damage is?’ I met people today from North Carolina that came all the way up here. They bring hope to this community,” Mark Patrick Clements, a parishioner of Saint Catherine of Siena Church, added.
On Sunday, August 17, the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, visited the hardest-hit communities.
Parishioners of Saint Catherine’s Church took him around the community to see the damage first-hand.
With many roads finally open, the Bishop also celebrated the first Mass at Saint Catherine’s since the flooding, emphasizing to parishioners that they are the living presence of Jesus these days.
“You’re living the Eucharist. You’re giving your life in faith by your service of your brothers and sisters. You’re not nailed to a Cross physically, like Jesus at the Heart of his Sacrament, but you’re suffering. You’re suffering for and with your brothers and sisters – and you’re serving them out of love and I can’t think of a more incredible example of what it means to live the Gospel and to allow the Eucharist to take hold of you – than in what you’re doing right now. Right now. Thank you. Thank you,” Bishop Bambera said.
The Bishop also pledged financial support to parishioners with extensive damage from a Flood Recovery Fund the Diocese of Scranton has maintained since 2011, along with prayers from other parishioners across the Diocese.
“A whole lot of your brothers and sisters already are keeping you in their prayers because they’ve gone through what you’re going through – but all of this local church is holding you in our hearts and lifting you up to the Lord,” the Bishop added.
The Mass, along with the presence of the Bishop, touched many impacted by the flooding.
“There’s nothing more powerful than the Bishop seeing how much one of his communities has been affected and to come out and that outreach, I’m sure I’m not the only parishioner who feels that way,” Wolstenholme said.
“To have him physically drive, I don’t know how long it is, three hours, three-and-a-half hours, to come here, to the most remote area of the Diocese brings an incredible warmth to you. It’s kind of like, wow, he really, really is one of us. He’s not coming in here in a police escort with pomp and circumstance. He came in here humbly and he came in here and met us one-on-one and he rode around with us, getting to know the community. That affects us tremendously,” Clements added.
Parishioners also say it is miraculous that Saint Catherine’s Church was spared damage. With homes destroyed all around it, the water only touched the bottom step since it is built on a slab.
“When we found out that the water only touched the bottom step, when right across the road, it was up to my shoulders almost, just literally 400 yards down the road, houses off the foundation, Christ was preserved, His House was preserved. That is miraculous,” Clements said.