United Methodist help begins in hurricane-mauled Puerto Rico
9/25/1998 by United Methodist News Service Even as Hurricane Georges slowly plowed through the island of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic and Haiti share, other devastated Caribbean islands were struggling with emergency conditions left by the storm.
Bishop Juan Vera-Mendez of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico succeeded in contacting United Methodist Committee of Relief (UMCOR) offices in New York despite the widespread loss of electricity on his island. Without electricity, internal communications had virtually stopped and water pumps were not functioning.
The island has been declared a disaster area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the U.S. government. The eye passed through the southern and central parts, but the whole island was pummeled for four-to-six hours in a nighttime onslaught Sept. 21-22. Some parts of the island got 25 inches of rain in an hour, the bishop noted.
Sustained winds of 110 mph and more had ripped off roofs and toppled trees throughout the island. Torrential rain caused flooding and mudslides. These conditions together with downed power lines left many areas of the island unreachable. Even traffic signs and signals have been wiped out, according to Vera-Mendez who spoke to Wendy Whiteside, UMCOR executive secretary for program management, late Sept. 23.
The bishop explained that with other hurricanes in recent years, some part of the island was spared and that part was used as a base for relief operations. This time, he said, with the whole island hit, shifting resources internally would not be possible.
The most-affected areas had not succeeded in getting word out on conditions, Vera-Mendez told Whiteside. And, because of the downed trees, washouts and mudslides, sending a vehicle into these areas was not yet feasible, he said.
Whiteside emphasized that the island is still in the emergency phase where efforts must be focused on providing safety, sanitary conditions and security to the people there.
She said an initial grant for emergency relief is being processed by UMCOR, which is dispatching Gordon Knuckey of Denver and Loveland, Colo., as its UMCOR disaster response representative. Knuckey was in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Hugo rolled through. He and Darrell Long, UMCOR volunteer coordinator, were to go to the island Sept. 25. Lettie LaFontaine of Nashville, a United Methodist Communications staff person originally from Puerto Rico, will join the team Sept. 28 to handle communications.
Aid will also be directed to the ancillary islands of Culebra and Vieques, which contain churches that are administered by Vera-Mendez.
Knuckey plans go on to St. Croix and Angila, two of the many islands hit before the hurricane reached Puerto Rico, Whiteside said. Then he is expected to double back to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which were hit subsequent to Puerto Rico.
Florida is well-prepared, by comparison, to deal with the emergency there if the hurricane strikes as expected,
Donations to assist the hurricane victims may be sent to UMCOR's Disaster Response Special No. 982515-0, earmarked "Hurricanes '98." Checks may be placed in church collection plates or mailed to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115.
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