Two Years After Milton, Atonement Lutheran Church’s Sanctuary Finally Reopens!

In Oct. 2024, Hurricane Milton tore through Atonement Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel, ripping away a large section of the roof, and scattering insulation, wood, and nails across the street. Fortunately, the beautiful stained-glass windows above the altar and the cross on the roof of the Church were spared. 

Atonement Lutheran Pastor Scott Lindner (right photo) hoped that the Church would make it through Milton without any damage, as it did with Hurricane Helene, which also hit the Tampa Bay hard area two weeks prior, but it was not to be. Pastor Lindner’s wife Susan says that she and her husband were not initially aware of the damage, explaining that, “One of our members who was driving to work saw the damage. He pulled into the parking lot, took pictures, and then called his wife and told her to let us know.” 

After Milton, it wasn’t possible to hold services in the Church itself. “Luckily, we had just finished renovations to the Friendship Hall,” Lindner says, “and we were able to use that. However, the first week’s services were actually held outside, due to the fact the power had not yet come back on inside. 

Pastor Lindner says that the community really came together to help the church. 

“The Saturday after Milton hit,” he says, “there was debris everywhere outside. We had a clean-up day. We advertised it on our marquee and we invited other local churches. We had over 100 people participate. We found out that we had friends we didn’t know we had.” 

Looking at the sanctuary now it is hard to believe there had been so much damage. Pastor Lindner says the contractor, “Did an amazing job.” Even though Lindner and his congregants had hoped to have everything completed by last Christmas, it wasn’t until June 14 that Atonement Lutheran was finally able to have the first Sunday worship service inside, and the church held an Open House to show off the renovations to the community the day before that first service, which also included the rededication of the sanctuary. 

The damage doesn’t seem to have affected the number of people who have wanted to join the Church. Since October, Atonement Lutheran has welcomed about 20 new members, increasing the church’s total membership to 225. “It was very unexpected,” Lindner says. 

Milton Was Not Kind 

In addition to the structural damage to the roof, the woodwork throughout the sanctuary needed refinishing and there also was mold found that needed to be mitigated. The process included “A lot of waiting,” says Lindner. Because the church had to wait for the permits and the funding to pay for everything, repairs that may have been able to wait had to then be completed, due to the ongoing damage, including replacing the floors throughout the church and recovering the chairs in the sanctuary. The delays also resulted in the Church having to receive financing. 

The Cost, The Fund Raising & FEMA 

Lindner says that the cost of the initial phases of construction has been about $1 million. The Church did have insurance, but it unfortunately didn’t cover wind damage. Atonement Lutheran did receive $100,000 from the Florida-Bahamas Synod, the church’s governing body. Other local churches also have pitched in to help, donating the proceeds from various fund raisers to Atonement. There was even a $10,000 donation from a church in Arizona. The Church also has held raffles and other events over the past year and will continue to do so this year. 

Atonement Lutheran also applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for assistance. In discussing the Church’s application to FEMA, Pastor Lindner says: “We went through this [assistance request]at the worst possible time.” 

Around the same time the church submitting its application to FEMA, the new administration in Washington, DC, began reviewing all government agencies and programs, looking for inefficiency and waste and FEMA was among the main targets of those efforts. Lindner says, “The first person they (FEMA) sent was a contractor working under FEMA; he was the best. He spent a lot of time with us working through the initial process.” 

But then, with the reorganization process Lindner says that contractor was transferred and they were assigned a brand-new person who was not familiar with the case, particularly the mold mitigation process. 

To date, Lindner says, “FEMA has provided about $19,000 in cost-sharing which is based on the documentation of volunteer hours and donated services.” 

Lindner adds that the church could be waiting a while for any additional assistance from FEMA. “Everything stopped for a while because FEMA was not working on any of the cases from Milton; cases from Hurricane Helene were being reviewed first.” 

Delays in FEMA itself receiving its funding also has stalled the process. “A few weeks ago, we heard that they would start reviewing cases from Milton and just last week we got an email requesting documentation for their case.” While Lindner says that this news was a bit frustrating, since the church had previously submitted this documentation, it looks like things might finally be moving forward. He adds that Atonement Lutheran is hoping to receive about $300,000 by the end of the year which will go towards the rebuilding fund. 

The Remaining Projects 

With the sanctuary now usable, Lindner says that the final phase of construction will include the following projects. 

Finish Restroom Renovations — Pastor Lindner says of the restrooms: “They are usable, but they need to be replumbed. There is a lot that needs to be done there.” 

Redoing The Kitchen Space —The Church has a small kitchen which is not really being used, especially as the Church will no longer be running a food pantry, which was, unfortunately, another casualty of the hurricane. The plans are to gut the kitchen and repurpose the space. 

Church Entrances & Freedom Hall — Pastor Lindner says he remembers when he first became the Pastor at Atonement Lutheran 20 years ago that, “54 was a two-lane road and the business park next door was not built yet. All these things changed the nature of our grounds.” He adds that, “The front door is not really our front door anymore; people [usually] enter the church from the side instead of walking all the way around from the parking lot.” He also says that the remodeling will include adding double doors to the side of the Church with a canopy. “The entrance would become the new Narthex or Welcome Center.” 

We wish the Church luck with their continued restoration and fingers crossed that this year’s Hurricane season passes us all by. 

Atonement Lutheran Church is located at 29617 Wesley Chapel Blvd. Sunday worship services are held at 10:30 a.m. The office is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. For more information, call (813) 973- 2211 or visit DiscoverALC.com. 

State Road Street Signs Damaged By Hurricane Milton Are Still Missing 

Research & photos by Joel Provenzano 

As we all remember all too vividly, Hurricane Milton, which was a Category 5 tropical cyclone when it made landfall near Siesta Key on Oct. 9 of last year, was the first hurricane in decades (or maybe ever) to make a direct hit on the Wesley Chapel area later that day and cause widespread damage and flooding. 

The after-effects of Milton continued to be felt for many weeks and, among the casualties of that storm were dozens of roadway signs that were knocked down and/or destroyed — some of which still have not been replaced now nearly 10 months later (highlighted in red in both pictures, above). 

Pasco County Media Relations & Communications public information officer Sarah Andeara says, however, that the county’s Traffic Operations & Public Works departments, “have repaired all damages and replaced all signage on county roads that were damaged by Hurricane Milton. Traffic Operations replaced approximately 40 overhead signs and traffic signals, noting that each overhead illuminated street name sign costs approximately $3,700.” 

At our press time, Andeara did not know how many post-mounted signs were fixed via the Public Works department, but said that for any missing signs on state roads — including S.R.s 56 and 54 — the Florida Department of Transportation (or FDOT)’s District 7 is ultimately responsible for the replacement of those signs. 

It’s also important to note that, unlike traffic signal “heads,” each of the signs — which are important for tourism, emergency response and local businesses — has to be custom-designed. 

FDOT transportation engineer Megan Arasteh says, “The Department has inventoried the damaged signs through field visits, and designed the new signs if as-builts were not available, and is in the process of securing the funds for manufacturing the signs.” 

Arasteh also noted that, “The estimated timeframe to complete sign replacements throughout District 7 is approximately one year. It takes FDOT about one hour to design each sign if as-builts are not available. The manufacturing process requires a minimum lead time of four months, and each sign installation takes approximately three hours.” 

As for how many signs FDOT needs to replace in our area, Arasteh says, “A minimum of 16 signs will be replaced in Wesley Chapel, nineteen signs total in Pasco County, and 203 signs total in all of District 7,” which also includes New Tampa. 

Arasteh also notes that, “FDOT recently completed the process of acquiring federal funds to replace these signs. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires a Detailed Damage Inspection Report (DDIR) for approval of funding. FDOT began the process in December 2024. The report included details of the hurricane damage and pictures. FHWA approved the funds this month. As you can imagine with the extent of the damage due to Hurricane Milton, FHWA has had a very large number of DDIRs to review and approve, [and] they have been a great resource to work closely with the Department throughout this process. Dist. 7 Traffic Operations is now working on a new contract that will advertise for bids in about two months for sign replacement.” 

As for cost, Arasteh says, “The cost varies to replace each sign. Based on FDOT’s statewide averages for signs, the cost is approximately $7,500, not including design, maintenance of traffic and mobilization. A vendor will manufacture the signs on behalf of FDOT and Pasco County will install the signs. 

Now, two months into the 2025 hurricane season, the hope here is that the work will be completed before our area takes another major hit. 

Hurricane Milton Aftermath — Of Tornado Near Misses & What You’re Dealing With Here

As I reflect on the horror that was — and still is for many people — Hurricane Milton, I am both happy and a little guilty to report that our power is back on (at the Silversaw Apartments on the north side of S.R. 56, west of I-75), our complex seemingly suffered little to no structural damage, the traffic signals are working and many of the stores and restaurants have been able to reopen in our area.
 
But, believe me, I know this is not the case for a large number of our readers and the State of Florida in general. And, I once again feel powerless to help, other than maybe to donate money to disaster relief, which won’t necessarily benefit the local residents in need.


Jannah and I went to stay with her daughter in Port Saint Lucie — yes, the same Port Saint Lucie (and St. Lucie County) that took the brunt of the 126 tornado warnings and nearly 40 verified tornado touchdowns as Milton’s outer bands were first reaching the “Sunshine State” early on Thursday afternoon. One of those tornadoes, which touched down less than five miles from where we were hunkered down, tore the roof off the city’s Police Department and another that hit Ft. Pierce (only 12 miles from us) is responsible for the deaths of at least five people in one subdivision — the Spanish Lakes Country Club. 
 
Scary stuff, to be sure, but those near misses were the worst we dealt with from the storm and we got an email that the power had somehow already been restored at Silversaw on Thursday night. We definitely saw less rain and wind in Port Saint Lucie than pretty much anywhere other than Miami and other areas in the southeastern corner of the state.
 
My mom, who lives in downtown Sarasota, made the decision to stay in her high-rise apartment building, which did lose power but had a backup generator that kicked in and her hurricane windows held up just fine. Even so, she was alone with her cat in her apartment and said that the winds — which exceeded 100 mph upon Milton’s landfall in nearby Siesta Key (which already had been devastated by storm surge from Hurricane Helene) — never seemed to let up from what she could only describe as a high-speed train sound right outside those windows for more than six hours. I’ve seen comments on local Facebook community pages that tell a similar story about the conditions here for those who didn’t evacuate.
 
On our drive back yesterday, which included passing through the “war zone” that is now Ft. Pierce, we saw dozens of downed power lines, non-working traffic signals and tons of damage. We felt even more fortunate — but maybe also even more guilty — to have a place to return to that has electricity and running water with our lives pretty much able to resume back to “normal.”


 
But, I know that simply isn’t true for everyone who receives our publications. Photographer Charmaine George and freelance writers Celeste McLaughlin and Iris Vitelli still have no power and TECO (Tampa Electric Co.) has told its many thousands of customers that they “hope” all power will be restored by next Thursday. That would be almost an entire week with no electricity, which is horrible to think about until you consider those who lost their homes completely and whose lives are changed forever.  
 
We have seen the buckling of a portion of Curley Rd., the flooding of the Shoppes at New Tampa plaza (BBD Blvd. at S.R. 56), trees that fell on people’s houses and many more truly frightening things that have happened since Thursday night. 
 
And, the effects of Milton clearly haven’t left us yet entirely, either. Just today, the National Guard and other military and law enforcement personnel had to help evacuate the Enclave development on Wesley Chapel Blvd.(not to be confused with The Enclave subdivision of Meadow Pointe or The Enclave Apartments on S.R. 56) because of the flooding of the nearby Cypress Creek. Flooding continues to be an issue for a lot of our other readers, too, and many have structural damage to their homes and what could be long waits for insurance claims to be processed and paid, while also having to find temporary shelter.


 
In other words, just because you and I don’t have the same full-fledged disaster on our hands doesn’t mean your neighbors are all OK. I have seen some of the nastiest comments back and forth on local Facebook communities and have seen and heard of people being nasty to workers at Costco, local restaurants and especially, at local gas stations, many of which weren’t able to replenish their supplies until this morning. It’s obvious that many people do still have to fill gas cans because they do still need to run their generators because they still don’t have power. Please try to avoid getting gas right now if you already have more than half a tank, in order to let those who desperately need it now get it. We all hate waiting on lines for things, but we don’t need to hate or fight or threaten each other because we have to do so.
 
I am praying for a speedy recovery for everyone from this but sadly, I know that many have a lot of “bad road” ahead of them. Please email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com (mailto:ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com) if you have ideas about what those of us who are already recovering from Milton can do to help those who aren’t. Also feel free to send me a note about what you or someone you know are going through and please let me know if you want me to share that information with our readers, even if you want it to remain anonymous.