AMERICAN RED CROSS NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS

Hurricane Mitch has proved to be one of the most devastating storms to hit Central America this decade.  In addition to the hundreds of individuals who have still not surfaced after mud and rock slides zipped through communities, Hurrican Mitch has reportedly killed more than 5,000 people in Honduras alone.  In Nicaragua, an estimated 1,500 people are reported dead.  Wiping out bridges and flooding roads, the people of the cities and villages throughout Central America find themselves isolated and without food, electricity, and running water.  As a result of the widespread devastation and destruction to entire communities and their infrastructure, sanitation and water-borne diseases are a major threat to many populations.  As the needs of the these affected communities escalate with each passing moment, the plead for assistance grows dramatically.  Red Cross relief teams are at the affected sites, distributing food, blankets, and health and hygiene supplies.  Teams of Red Cross volunteers and staff continue to evacuate victims from their mud covered and flooded homes.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Georges, the Caribbean, which was devastated by winds of over 110 miles per hour, continues to show signs of widespread damage.  Recovery will be long and painful over the upcoming months, and perhaps years.  The losses in Cuba, the Antilles, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were catastrophic, leaving thousands of families on these islands homeless and in dire human need.

Within the Dominican Republic and Haiti, people lost not only their homes, but also much of their infrastructure.  Georges took the lives of an estimated 300 people in the Dominican Republic alone, and some 600,000 people there have been seriously affected.  Many residents in the Dominican Republic suffered extensive damage to their homes, if not their entire village.  An estimated 200,000 individuals are in shelters that have become increasingly incapable of dealing with the large volume of people seeking shelter.  Low on potable water and operating under worsening sanitary conditions, many shelters have very limited sanitary facilities.  Heavy shelter population and usage have caused toilets to overflow into the living are where people sleep on the floors.  This dangerous health hazard could potentially host water-borne diseases such as cholera and dengue.

In addition to the Red Cross relief efforts currently underway, Chicago Cubs baseball player Sammy Sosa, a native of the Dominican Republic, has stepped forward with generous support and commitment to the Red Cross and to serving the victims of Hurricane Georges.  The Sammy Sosa Center is now being used by the Dominican Red Cross as a distribution point for local assistance.

Thanks, in part, to the compassion and support of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the American Red Cross has been able to create a powerful momentum for both international and domestic disaster relief.

On behalf of our Red Cross and LULAC families, we would like to ask you to consider supporting the victims of this and other disasters by calling 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or 1-800-HELP-NOW.  Contributions may also be sent to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, Post Office Box 37243, Washington, DC  20013.  Internet users can make a secure online credit card contribution by visiting www.redcross.org, and choosing the International Relief Fund as their option of giving.
 

Written by Brent Wilkes with the LULAC organization.