A Christian supplier and church bookstore were coping with the impact of Hurricane Ike, which hit at the weekend.

The death toll climbed to 51 yesterday as a broad swath of the country from the Gulf Coast to the upper Midwest reeled from the after effects of the storm, which had 110-mph winds, the Associated Press reported. More than 6 million people, including 2.5 million in Texas, lost power after the storm slammed ashore Saturday.

Standard Publishing's headquarters and warehouse in Cincinnati were among those hit, but President Larry Carpenter told Christian Retailing that the company was "back up to full-service levels" following the weather-related power outage.

"Our telephones and e-mails are up and running," he said. "Our shipments might be a bit delayed as we catch up with our orders. We would encourage all of our customers to e-mail us. … We appreciate everyone's patience as we worked our way through this difficult situation."

Ted Terry, manager of the 9,960-square-foot Lakewood Bookstore at Lakewood Church in Houston, told Christian Retailing that the staff and families of the church—which is pastored by Joel Osteen—evacuated a week ago to prepare for the storm.

"We do not know when we will re-open," said Terry, noting that Lakewood canceled its Sunday services. "Our church building had a lot of water damage on the first floor, our landscaping was heavily damaged, and we had some wind damage. … The bookstore itself was completely unaffected.

"We are in the process of establishing Lakewood Church as a distribution center for victims and working with the city to make sure we take care of the people," added Terry, who suffered no damage to his home from Ike. "Loss of business is the furthest thing from my mind right now."

Jana Muntsinger, co-owner and president of McClure/Muntsinger Public Relations who lives in northwest Houston, told Christian Retailing that her family evacuated a week ago to Austin, about two-and-a-half hours away.

When Muntsinger's family returned Sunday, they had no phone service and electricity. "There was flooding around us, but not in our house," said Muntsinger, who works from home and whose firm specializes in promoting religious books to the Christian and general market. "We had three trees that fell, but they didn't hit the house. Our power turned on Monday night. … We are so fortunate. I feel so blessed and grateful that there was very little damage."