Long recovery process underway

CNS/Mickey Welsh, USA TODAY Network via Reuters
A burning apartment building is seen in Kenner, La., Aug. 30 after Hurricane Ida struck the area. 

By ROB HERBST
The Catholic Week
and RHINA GUIDOS
Catholic News Service
The Archdiocese of Mobile was mostly spared major damage from late August's Hurricane Ida, one of the most powerful storms to hit the continental U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Those throughout the archdiocese have offered help to those impacted by the storm.
The Archdiocese of Mobile is still accepting financial donations. Donations should be marked “Hurricane Ida Relief” and sent care of the Archdiocese of Mobile, 356 Government St., Mobile AL 36602.
Parishes and ministries throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile have also held their own collections.
Catholic Social Services has also provided for those who fled Louisiana and Mississippi for Alabama. According to CSS Executive Director Marilyn King, CSS has food, clothing, diapers, baby formula and household goods available. It was also doing in-depth assessments for those with hotel/gasoline needs. 
While damage in Alabama was ultimately minimal, the National Weather Service in Mobile reported 9.37 inches of rain between Aug. 29-31. Two EF-1 tornadoes also touched down in Mobile and Clarke counties. The severe weather forced Archdiocese of Mobile Catholic schools and offices in Mobile and Baldwin counties to close Aug. 30. Many Monday Masses were also canceled, but there were no reports of damage to any parish or ministry.
Louisiana and Mississippi felt the brunt of the storm. In a televised Aug. 30 meeting with President Joe Biden, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he estimated that close to 2 million were without electricity in the region, though news reports said about 1 million were affected.
Edwards said the damage was "catastrophic" as news outlets showed flooded and destroyed homes, torn roofs and water running through Louisiana streets like a rushing river.
Classes were cancelled Aug. 30-31 at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, La., where seven Archdiocese of Mobile seminarians attend school. 
But President-Rector Fr. Gregory Boquet, O.S.B., reported the campus suffered “very little damage.”
Though the hurricane had torn through much of Louisiana as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 29, it later struck the northeast U.S., causing an estimated 41 deaths and flooding roads in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut.
On Sept. 5, Pope Francis offered prayers to the victims and families affected by Hurricane Ida.
"I assure my prayers for the people of the United States of America who have been hit by a strong hurricane in recent days," the pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square Sept. 5 during his Sunday Angelus address.
"May the Lord receive the souls of the deceased and sustain those suffering from this calamity," the pope said.
As levees in Louisiana seemed to have stood up to Ida's wrath, many on social media urged the public to keep in mind that help would be needed in small agricultural towns, not just for damage to New Orleans.  
Bishop Shelton Fabre of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana, in a Sept. 1 message on its website and social media channels, said schools would reopen once electricity was restored and buildings were safe.
He celebrated Mass on Sept. 5 outside Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Larose.
Catholic Charities of Southwest Louisiana in Lake Charles offered 900 meals for Hurricane Ida evacuees, remembering how they, too, had been helped by neighboring states during last year's hurricane season.
The Diocese of Beaumont, Texas, which suffered damage from Hurricane Laura in late August 2020 said Bishop David L. Toups "has invited all of our priests and faithful ... to pray and intercede for our brothers and sisters in Louisiana. We stand with them in prayer during the storm and will stay by them to assist in recovery."