Roof leaking at Cape Coral church months after Hurricane Ian’s damage

Rain is leaking onto church pews and stage equipment at Grace Church in Cape Coral, and with each passing storm, the flooding inside gets worse.

The church’s roof was hit and damaged by Hurricane Ian, and they’ve been trying to repair it. Although, they’ve had a significant setback.

The lead pastor of Grace Church told WINK News they have all the materials they need and they have a great contractor. However, storms this week blew the tarp they had off their roof, leading to water damage inside the church ever since, they’ve been scrambling to make repairs and prevent mold, all while the rainy season is ramping up.

Ian damaged Grace Church off Hancock Bridge Parkway. It looks a lot different now in part because it’s missing a new roof.

“When we were finally able to start the roof is when all those storms blew in last week,” Wes Olds, the lead pastor for Grace Church, said. “We started having rain inside the sanctuary, which is probably the last place we would ever want to see it rain.”

Around the church, you can see all the standing water from the storms. Meanwhile, work is getting done and Olds doesn’t know how long it will take. He’s just thankful progress is happening.

“We have three campuses, Lee County and our Fort Myers Shores campus 20% of that congregation lost their homes due to the flooding. And so, you know, we can’t bellyache too much about the sanctuary, having some damage in it, because we are all experiencing the same trouble at the same time,” Olds said.

Pastor Olds said the church plans on holding a service at the Cape Coral church location on Sunday. New tarps are covering the damaged sections of the roof where the water got through.

“We’re all going through this together as a community. And I think that that brings this bond of peace. I do believe misery loves company. And we certainly got lots of company in Cape Coral and Lee County right now,” Pastor Olds said.

Pastor Olds told WINK News he’s learned not to fall in love with buildings. Instead, he’s reminded to stay in love with their mission of loving the people and the community.

In the meantime, they’re making due, and they have multiple locations where they can hold services. After Ian, the pastor explained they operated out of tents without electricity or plumbing so they will continue on no matter what.