Hurricane Ivan dramatically bore out the biblical saying “the rain falls on the just and the unjust”, as the damage to churches in Manchester and Clarendon proved.

Last week, the Sunday Observer toured both parishes and viewed the devastation by one of the worst hurricanes to hit Jamaica. More than a dozen churches in several communities and denominations were either totally or partially destroyed, and their headquarters, up to Thursday, were still compiling damage assessment.

Among the hardest hit was the historic 192-year-old New Broughton United Church in New Broughton, Manchester. Having weathered many storms in its almost two centuries of existence, the two-storey structure crumbled in the face of ‘Ivan the Terrible’.

Members of the Youth Fellowship (YF) searched frantically through the rubble to find musical equipment, before any more looters came.

“Thieves have already stolen a 1500-watt speaker,” YF president Daviot Reid said, as he and others salvaged the bass and lead guitar, keyboard and two speakers.

“They (looters) said they would be coming back for the musical instruments. They made a trip already stealing stuff. So we are trying to save what we can before they come back,” added a sombre Ann- Marie Allen.

The members managed to secure the silver plates on which the unleavened bread is shared, two silver wine chalices, a glass butter-dish and the communion wine-glass holder.

Grace Clarke, an officer of the United Church in Jamaica and Cayman said “the church is just getting reports from some areas because phone lines were down and it was not in a position to estimate the extent of the damage.”

The Church of God of Prophecy on Levy Lane in Mandeville was stripped of its dignity, as the newly-constructed building was demolished. The unholy evidence of Hurricane Ivan’s fury lay in a mangled mess at the entrance to the church, prompting tears from a member who wept openly in the mid-afternoon sun.

The Methodist Church suffered its fair share of damage but a church official said information on overall estimates would have to await the return of Rev Byron Chambers, head of the Methodist District who was out of office.

In Mandeville, the church hall of the Wesley Methodist Church on Wesley Road in the town was in ruins. The hall, which survived Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, was a mass of red dirt and rocks. Property steward Carlton Russell believed things could have been worse and the church was lucky.

“We were in the process of re-roofing it. We got estimates and all just before the hurricane came,” he said. Pointing to the devastation from Ivan’s winds, he said: “The structure is clearly dangerous and cannot be renovated. What is left has to be destroyed.”

The First Assembly Church of God on DeCarteret Road in Mandeville lost sections of its roof, and so did the Apostolic Church of God at Knockpatrick. The Church of the Open Bible in New Port, also lost a large portion of its roof.

Noticeably spared were the century-old Marlie Hill United Church and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness, at Wigton, near Rose Hill.

In Clarendon, the Watsonton Methodist Church lost its roof, while the Portland Cottage Anglican Church simply collapsed on its foundation.