The Diocese of Camden is receiving financial help from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.
Hurricane Sandy, which quickly became a super storm, wreaked havoc on the Eastern United States in October 2012, killing 125 people in the U.S. after causing more than 70 deaths in the Caribbean. According to a report from The Associated Press, the storm caused about $62 billion in damage and other losses in the U.S. making it the second-costliest storm in U.S. history after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which caused $128 billion in damage.
Damage in South Jersey was significant but minor compared to North Jersey and New York. The collective property damage losses in the Diocese of Camden are valued at roughly $1,635,000.
Insurance-related property claims reported for 57 of the 65 buildings damaged range from $500 to $303,000.
Other than a few random wind-related claims, Sandy’s damages to buildings in the Diocese of Camden territory were caused by water. The most severe losses were at the diocese’s shore points, which resulted from tidal surge.
The highest concentration of losses were at St. Joseph’s in Sea Isle City; St. Monica, Our Lady Star of the Sea, St. Michael and St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Atlantic City; and Holy Trinity Parish at its Ventnor, Margate and Longport locations.
Although the diocese sustained $1,635,000 in claimed damages, the diocese is expected to be reimbursed at $816,182 by its excess insurance carrier, leaving a non-insured exposure of $817,318, which church officials described as a “substantial and significant financial burden on the diocese.”
Recognizing our financial burden and those of other dioceses along Sandy’s path of destruction, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions under the leadership of Bishop Peter F. Christensen of Superior, Wis, offered grants to those dioceses most affected.
Accordingly, the USCCB provided the Diocese of Camden a grant of $375,000 which reduced the financial non-insured burden by approximately 50 percent.