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Flooding Forces Passaic County Church To Throw Everything Away

WAYNE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Devastating floods caused by this weekend's storms have left a Passaic County church and nursery school in ruins.

CBS2's Meg Baker went to see firsthand how they are picking up the pieces.

The dumpsters have been filling up as the Packanack Community Church in Wayne has been emptied out. Everything was lost because of the floodwaters.

The water rose above the door handles, and furniture, copiers, and suppliers were all covered in smelly mud.

"Our church is situated at the bottom of a hill on Lake Drive East, and the water just cascaded down Cathleen Court – the road above us – and overran a berm that the town had built to protect homes," said the Rev. Karyn Ratcliffe, pastor of the church.

Ratcliffe said it was raining buckets Sunday around 8:45 p.m. A church member was actually in the building.

"She said the water started pouring in through the windows so fast, she didn't even have time to react. It just happened," Ratcliffe said.

The work on Tuesday was being done by volunteers, and all of the sheetrock must come down to prevent any mold from growing.

"I'm just here to help as much as I can," said volunteer Quinn Kelli.

Kelli grew up in the church.

"Removing molding, sheetrock, getting rid of carpet, cleaning everything up," she said.

Parents and teachers at the adjacent Packanack Cooperative Nursery School said it is going to take a lot of effort and money to get the building ready for the first day of school on Sept. 7.

Director Kelly Schmitz has heard from some of the families.

"A mom had let me know from a kindergartener from my class last night that she saw pictures and she was crying: 'This is my school! That's my teacher!'" Schmitz said. "That's why we have to work so hard to get it back."

More volunteers are needed, church officials said.

"There's a lot more to go, so we could use people to help us cleanup and stuff," said church chairman of trustees Stephen DeHan. "If anyone could volunteer like professional cleanup services, that would be great."

The church also hosts a food pantry that feeds a number of families in the area. All of the food is unusable now.

The total damage to the church is estimated to be more than $100,000.

The church and school were also flooded four years ago, but with much less damage involved. The community has set up a GoFundMe page and is looking for more volunteers to help with the cleaning.

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