NEW LONDON, Conn. — The woman who was in the church at the time when the steeple at the historic First Congregational church collapsed recounts what she experienced.
Teresa Tymes is the Church Administrator for Engaging Heaven Church and was in her office at the time of the collapse.
“It was a normal Thursday afternoon for me….I was getting ready to go home a little early,” said Tymes.
Tymes described the sound she heard that Thursday afternoon, “It was like woosh, the best way to describe it was like I went it snows and the next day the snow falls off the roof,” said Tymes
She continued with her day until she noticed people gathering outside her office.
“Everyone was like, get out of the building, the buildings falling down, and I was like…Okay, guys, you're being dramatic. It's not falling down,” Tymes said.
Inside the New London church following the collapse
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That’s when she saw a few pieces of debris outside her office window.
“I saw like two wooden sticks or planks. So, I thought in my head Oh, I got a hole. All right, I'm gonna call the guys who helped me and we're gonna put up a blue tarp because I have a hole,” Tymes exclaimed.
She then opened the door to her office that leads to the sanctuary and that’s when she saw the rubble inside the sanctuary.
“I opened the door and I was like, oh, okay, this is bigger than a blue tarp hole,” said Tymes.
It wasn’t until first responders arrived and evacuated the new addition that she got a grasp of what exactly happened.
“They took me to the front and then that was when I saw the whole extent of that like, there is no…there is nothing there,” said Tymes.
She believes she was protected by a higher power.
“I was completely protected and it was like I was in the cleft of the rocks with the Lord…quite literally! That is my office right there. That wall that is still standing that stone portion. See that? That is the wall I look at in my office on a daily basis,” said Tymes.
RELATED: Demolition begins at site of historic church collapse as congregation holds Sunday service
It's not lost on her what could have happened and sees this as a miracle.
“Had things gone awry…more so, I may not be here,” said Tymes.
The cause of the collapse remains under investigation. The church has started a GoFundMe to clean up and rebuild.
This week Sunday services will be held at the Port and Starboard Banquet Gallery at Ocean Beach Park.
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