Print Issue: November 14, 2002

Severe Weather Takes Toll On Church Steeple

By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

JASPER - A severe storm that hit Pickens County and other areas of North Georgia the early morning of Nov. 11 knocked off the steeple at Our Lady of the Mountains Mission in Jasper.

The church, which is undergoing construction of a new building to double its size, also had a few gutters damaged and trees knocked down. But the Davis's Barbecue right behind the church was severely damaged and got its roof knocked off, said priest-administrator Father Neil Jones. "We lucked out. About 30 feet more and we would have lost the church," he said. "The path started out behind the church . . . All we got was residual winds that knocked down the steeple and beat some of the new gutters and took down trees around the church. We dodged the bullet big time."

He added, "The biggest problem the construction workers (on the new building) had was that the port-o-potty got blown over . . . Other than the steeple we had a huge tree next to the rectory and it fell away from the rectory. That's how lucky we were. If it had fallen on the rectory it would have demolished it."

The priest said that in the area of Tate in Jasper where the church is located everybody lost their power from the severe weather, and houses were lost including four duplexes nearby that "were leveled." He hasn't received any calls of assistance yet at the mission but expects for the parish St. Vincent de Paul Society to get them. "The angels are watching over the church," he said.