"Honestly...I just gasped": Heavy snow crushes roof of Foresthill church
FORESTHILL - Foresthill faithful are looking for a new place to worship after heavy snow caused the roof of their church to collapse overnight.
Pastor Daniel Cordova describes the spectacular site, his church building, transformed into debris.
"Honestly, like, I just gasped, and I don't normally gasp, that's not something I do, I just saw it, and I was like 'oh,'" Cordova said.
Heavy snow weighed down the massive rooftop, forcing the collapse. The roof caved in overnight. No one was hurt. Video of a recent sermon inside the Calvary Chapel Church shows it before the damage.
Pastor Cordova took snapshots of the wreckage aftermath, the cross still clinging to a wall.
"I was passing through here today looking at some things and saw our big cross, on our front wall, and I thought, you know, if I don't believe in resurrection now, I should get out of the business, you know," Cordova said.
This church roof collapse followed a deadly Foresthill porch collapse a day earlier. An 80-year-old woman was killed standing beneath it.
Heavy snow has hit this Foresthill community hard. People who live here are in survival mode.
"I've never seen it this bad," resident Jay Davis said. "It's pretty horrible."
"It's like way too much," resident Joe Sullivan said. "Limbs are snapping, the lady passed away, just trees down everywhere on cars. it's incredible. It really is."
PG&E crews have been out in full force trying to restore the power to this community cut off by downed trees.
Now, this pastor is seeking a new place for his parishioners. His church is in shambles. His spirit—unbroken.
"We haven't been able to meet in here because of the weather, because of, you know, several feet of snow, and so we're just grateful that nobody was in it, you know, not even a chance of people being in it," Cordova said.
Pastor Cordova says he does not know where he will hold church services this Sunday. He may have to resort to a remote sermon, via zoom.
