Pastor: Flood damage to Spring Lake church 'devastating'

By Emmy Victor, WRAL reporter

Spring Lake, N.C. — Sunday morning worship looks different for churchgoers in Spring Lake as they figure out what to do about storm damage.

The pastor of Church of the Covenant Presbyterian says floodwaters from Florence swept through the historic building last week, and it’s not the first time the small congregation has faced costly repairs.

The church, built in 1901, has now gone through two floods — Hurricane Matthew and now Hurricane Florence. Officials say it never flooded until Matthew hit in 2016.

Some of the water from Florence has receded, but it was reaching the top of the front door, near the ceiling, one week ago.

Pastor Floyd Benfield considers what happened to his church devastating. A total of six feet of water got inside the sanctuary, and two buildings were destroyed. Windows were knocked out, pews were scattered everywhere, and the piano was flipped on its side.

The church has been in Spring Lake for about 110 years. The Little River, which went out of its banks during the storm, runs behind the church.