SAN ANTONIO - Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Victoria began as a Mission back in 1851. The chapel was constructed back in 1909, and for over 100 years, it has endured Texas coastal weather. That has come with challenges.
"We had some water come in and damage the carpet and the two rooms to the side of it. And some sheet rock damage, and some ceiling damage, and it tore up the roof a little bit," said church member Godfred Berger about Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Godfred has been a member of the church for decades. He showed us historical pictures from the 20th century and gave us a full tour, marveling at the way the church was built over a century ago.
"Look at all the old churches. They all have water damage, but they don't have any structural damage," remarked Berger.
This is something researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) wanted to investigate. William Dupont, an Architecture professor at UTSA, led a planning study with the help of a grant related to Hurricane Harvey recovery funding. Their mission was to find out how to be better prepared for the next storm.
"What can we do to mitigate the damage and the harm, what can we do to recover faster," said Dupont.
Researchers looked at nine historic houses of worship near or along the Texas coast. Three in Victoria County, three in Galveston County, and three in Harris County.
"Historic houses of worship are frequently involved in disaster recovery. They're not first responders, but they get back in as soon as they can into their communities and they do what they can to help out," said Dupont.
Researchers examined the structures and identified weaknesses that may prove vulnerable in a disaster.
"Just to be aware of it, that means that in your disaster planning you recognize that there is that vulnerability," said Dupont.
Researchers took the assessments of these buildings and created a toolkit to serve as a guide to rate a property's resilience, evaluate its risk of damage during a hurricane, and then apply practical steps to improve the integrity of the structure and prepare ahead of a storm.
"The tools are intended to for architects and engineers elsewhere to utilize," said Dupont.
He hopes it will be used across the country to better disaster-proof historical structures. And the importance of this cannot be understated.
"You always want to preserve history. Once you tear down history, you can't never rebuild it," said Berger.