Overnight storm rips off part of 101-year-old Elgin church building’s roof

Severe winds from powerful overnight storms that blew through the Western and Northwest suburbs ripped off half the roof of the 101-year-old First United Methodist Church in Elgin.

The historic church, at 216 E. Highland Ave., was the only building in the area that suffered severe damage, Elgin Fire Chief Robert Cagann said Saturday.

“It was something that was very isolated. The storm was not as bad as they were predicting in our area,” said Cagann of earlier tornado warnings for DuPage, Kendall, Kane, and DeKalb counties.

“We did not have any sort of widespread damage,” he added. “We had a lot of power lines down, many tree limbs down, a couple of trees came down but nothing as significant as the church. It is substantial. Not only is it an older building with heavier timbers but also (the roof) is clad in copper.”

The entire exterior roof is covered in copper, which adds weight, he said.

“All the wood sheeting that covers the roof came off,” he added.

Cagann said the interior wooden ceiling, however, is intact.

“We had a lot of roof debris in the street on Center Street last night, which the city of Elgin public works department cleaned up,” Cagann said. “The rest of it is being cleaned up by contractors hired by the church.”

First United Methodist Church is one of Elgin’s oldest congregations — in its 186th year, according to its website.

It is on what early Elginites referred to as Holy Hill because of its elevation above the river and the number of churches nearby. It is built in the Gothic style similar to Methodist churches in Evanston and Oak Park, according to the website.

Coincidentally, a Methodist church at the same corner was hit by a tornado 105 years ago, said the Rev. Victoria Rebeck of Aurora, director of communication for Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.

With a large section of the building exposed, water is seeping inside the church. The extent of the damage is unclear. Church volunteers and a roofing contractor have been there since the “wee hours” clearing the site, Rebeck said.

“When something happens like this we pull together,” Rebeck said.

She said half the copper roof was torn off, on the east side; the affected portion is over the sanctuary where congregants meet for worship.

“The steel girders are still there, but for all purposes it’s torn off, a gaping hole,” Rebeck said of the roof. “While the ceiling is still there, there are some openings where water is coming in … it’s dripping in, so there’s water damage in the sanctuary. We know that the roof itself is a total loss because the whole roof will need to be replaced.”

Roughly 60 people were in the church at the time of the storm, housed in the basement which served as a shelter, Rebeck said.

The basement was not damaged and no one was hurt, she added.

“We’re trying to keep people out of the building just because of safety purposes. There’s police tape around the building,” Rebeck said.

Sunday worship service will not meet in person, but will be held online at 10 a.m.; at noon there will be a prayer vigil in the park adjacent to the church, she said.

Other than Elgin, regions hardest hit by overnight storms were Chicago, Sycamore and DeKalb, said Brett Borchardt, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville.

“It seems like there was a concentrated corridor where there was quite a bit of damage,” he said.

Survey teams are in the field to determine whether the damage was due to tornadoes.

Wind gusts in the affected areas were measured between 60 and 70 mpg, which can cause tree damage, and sustained winds between 25 and 30 mph, Borchardt said.

Storms moved in starting about 11:30 p.m. and cleared out by about 1 a.m.

“We have heard some reports of some structural damage, like roof damage or damage to farm buildings,” Borchardt said. “March is typically the start of the severe weather season. We usually average one day every March where there’s severe weather. But what was unusual about this one was the time of day. We can get storms at any time of day, but to have severe weather in the middle of the night, that is somewhat unusual.