HURRICANES DEVASTATE
THE CARIBBEAN
Action Alert - 10/04
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You can help
our local partners
provide needed assistance.
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Background:
2004 is one of the worst-ever years for tropical storms. Hurricanes and intense tropical storms have caused widespread death and destruction in the Caribbean.
Haiti was hit hardest, with 1,870 bodies recovered; hundreds more still are missing. The homes of thousands were flooded and either damaged or completely destroyed by the rain and the flooding that followed.
The City of Gonaïves, cradle of Haiti’s independence from France, was hit hardest. Hundreds died, mainly in the floods. The whole city was under water and now is covered with mud; nothing is working.
Grenada and Jamaica were damaged extensively. Large numbers of buildings were destroyed, many others, including hospitals and health centers, were badly damaged. The devastation of both countries’ agriculture was almost total.
Cuba suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Charley. Homes, industries, infrastructure, and the best agricultural land were hit hardest. More than 40,000 houses in Cuba were damaged. Damage to schools, hospitals, electricity and telephone services, and water distribution systems was extensive.
| LWR AND PARTNERS ARE HELPING |
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is working with its partners in ACT, a global consortium of churches, to support affected families and communities in some parts of the Caribbean and to determine the possibilities of assistance in others.
- Providing emergency food for 500 families began last week. As more donations are received, LWR and its partners will expand food deliveries in Haiti.
- LWR, working with ACT member the Cuban Council of Churches, is moving to help affected families in several cities with household items and materials to rebuild storm-damaged houses.
- Some gifts to LWR also will be used by ACT partners to support accompaniment by local churches in Cuba.
Your gift to “Caribbean Hurricane Relief” will help LWR, through its ACT partners, to provide desperately needed food, medicines, water and sanitation assistance, and other relief to storm-battered parts of Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean nations.
The best way to assist people caught in an emergency is to give cash so that our partner staff on the ground can be most effective.
To contribute online, click below. You will be given the opportunity to choose "Caribbean Hurricane Relief" for your contribution.
Your gift will be used for the "Caribbean Hurricane Relief" until needs there are met. After that, further gifts will be used to help LWR respond where the need is greatest.
You may also call 1-800-LWR-LWR-2, or mail a check or money order to:
Lutheran World Relief - Caribbean Hurricane Relief
PO Box 17061
Baltimore, MD 21298-9832
Please also consider making an unrestricted donation which will enable LWR to respond quickly to the next emergency.
Thank You for your help.
