David Hufford learned that an extreme storm had flooded a suburban Detroit church with more than 7 feet of water, striking the boiler, electrical system, elevator and more.
GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. — David Hufford learned that an extreme storm had flooded a suburban Detroit church with more than 7 feet of water, striking the boiler, electrical system, elevator and more. “Just astounding,” he said, thumbing through photos on his phone. But this repairman wasn’t called to fix anything ordinary at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran in Grosse Pointe Farms. Hufford’s mission: get the music flowing again from the church’s 63-year-old pipe organ. A flash flood in southeastern Michigan ruined basements in thousands of homes when a regional pump system didn’t keep up with the June 25-26 disaster. It also created urgent business for a small band of experts who specialize in pipe organs, a cherished instrument of worship in churches. “You might think that the pipe organ that sits high in the loft would be spared,” said the Rev. Tim Pelc of St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Park, “but the blower system, which supplies air to the bellows, is located in the basement.
