A Northern Virginia church is scrambling to find a place for its congregants to pray and gather after its roof collapsed earlier this week from heavy snow.
The St. George Tigrai Orthodox Tewahdo Church in Mt. Vernon is surrounded by red and yellow caution tape that first responders placed Monday evening and its parking lot is empty.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue said it responded to the area around 5:20 p.m. Monday. They identified it as a 鈥減artially collapsed two-story commercial building鈥� and found 鈥渞oof and floor failure,鈥� according to
Nobody was inside at the time of the collapse, the county said, and there weren鈥檛 any injuries.
Ayalneh Berhe, the church鈥檚 finance and administration coordinator, said adding to the issues with the collapsed roof, they’re dealing with the main building’s walls 鈥渓eaning forward towards the front.鈥�
Berhe said the space was purchased during the pandemic in 2020, and it鈥檚 a place where over 100 Ethiopian congregants gather.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have any place to pray, to do our prayers,鈥� he said. “We are looking at options.”
It鈥檚 unlikely the roof can be repaired, Berhe said, because of the way one side of the building is leaning. Nobody has been allowed to enter the spaces, and building engineers will be tasked with inspecting it.
Religious materials, computers and instruments are still inside.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a place to pray, that鈥檚 number one,鈥� Berhe said. 鈥淪econd, we are also thinking, how much will be the damage?鈥�
An outdoor tent used as a gathering space for the community to have breakfast, coffee or tea after services conclude also collapsed, Berhe said.
The church has launched a to help out with costs from the incident. Anyone seeking details can call or email using the contact information on its , he said.
鈥淧eople are calling us to know the story, what happened,鈥� Berhe said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檒l see. We鈥檒l settle anywhere who provides us space temporarily. Eventually, we want our church to be rebuilt and resume our function there.鈥�
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