Food, medicine airlifted to storm-ravaged Nicaragua
POSTED: Sep. 10, 2007
By Sarah Pate
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A family huddles under a flimsy stilt house to take shelter from the rain.
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PUERTO CABEZAS, Nicaragua - A week after Hurricane Felix made landfall as a Category 5 storm on Nicaragua's coast, rescue workers and government officials are working tirelessly to reach victims left stranded by the storm.
In Puerto Cabezas, the streets are clogged with downed trees, destroyed power lines and people searching for food and water.
Rain and flooding continue to plague coastal towns and damaged roads are keeping relief efforts limited to air.
In a government briefing, Nicaraguan officials said that more than 155,000 have been affected by Hurricane Felix and of those, 106,000 are located in the Puerto Cabezas region. Nearly 8,000 homes have been destroyed or severely damaged.
"My house went like this," said Jose, indicating with his hands how the wind raised the structure completely off the ground and flipped it upside down.
Yesterday, OBI chartered a DC-3 plane to airlift several tons of food and relief supplies provided by USAID. On the ground, teams are working with a local church to distribute relief kits providing families with a week's worth of food and emergency supplies.
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Soldiers from Nicaraguan Army help unload supplies from a DC-3 chartered by Operation Blessing.
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"Our team reports that 80-90 percent of all buildings and homes were destroyed or suffered major damage," said OBI President Bill Horan. "Thousands are homeless, hungry and drinking contaminated water."
"Thank you very much," said one woman after receiving a survival kit. "We need all the help we can get."
Outside of Nicaragua, OBI is also working with the Minister of Health and the Honduran First Lady as well as El Shaddai, a local non-profit, and sending $3 million worth of critically-needed medicine to victims. In addition, OBI is working to provide bed nets to shield off diseases carried by mosquitoes.
Felix is the second Category 5 storm of the 2007 season. Hurricane Dean, which slammed Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 5 on Aug. 20, killed 27 people in the Caribbean and Mexico.
How You Can Help
Be a part of OBI's ongoing disaster relief efforts by making an online donation to help Hurricane Felix victims. With your support, OBI can continue to bring emergency food, water and medical care to these hurricane victims who are caught in the midst of disaster.
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