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Hurricane Florence, a category one hurricane with maximum winds of 90 miles per hour, struck Bermuda Sept. 10 and 11. Early reports indicate that damage to United Methodist churches and parsonages was minor.

The Rev. Ed DeLong, retired, who served Centenary UMC in Bermuda last year, said he has spoken to that church?s current pastor, the Rev. Laurie Tingley, and that she is ?fine.?

?The wind is blowing real bad right now,? DeLong quotes Tingley as saying. ?But inside the house, you don?t hear a thing.? DeLong said that the parsonage is built to withstand a major storm, in line with the countries strict building codes, with exterior walls constructed of limestone 12 inches thick.

DeLong said that Tingley reported fire trucks and police vehicles moving about the island. The only damage she reported was some banana trees downed in her front yard. Because the wind was still blowing at more than 60 miles per hour when they spoke on the phone, DeLong said that Tingley had not yet been outside to visit the church structure, located about one mile from the parsonage.

DeLong said that he had tried to contact the Rev. Joe Whalen, pastor of the Marsden UMC, also in Bermuda, and he was not successful in that attempt.

The Bermuda congregations became part of the Baltimore-Washington Conference in 2002.