FFTP Sends Critical Aid to Central America in Response to Hurricane Eta
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Nov. 6, 2020) Families in several Central American countries face what officials have called a slow-moving humanitarian disaster in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta, as Food For The Poor responds to an urgent need for aid. Families there already were struggling to survive due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The storm triggered devastating flooding and landslides, left parts of the airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, under water and forced hundreds to their rooftops to escape rising waters.
The charity is sending 18 containers of aid, including 14 to Honduras with corn, blankets, buckets, totes, work gloves, bowls, food containers, serving trays and furniture; and three to Guatemala and one to Belize, all with disaster blankets.
Early next week, the charity plans to airfreight to Honduras a third disaster kit containing five pallets of face masks, personal cleaning wipes, Vienna sausages, disaster blankets and tarps. One disaster kit is also being sent to Guatemala.
The charity airfreighted two disaster relief kits to Honduras earlier this week. Those kits contained five pallets of essential items such as food, blankets, portable stoves, cleaning wipes and bandages.
In addition, the charity shipped eight containers of food that have already arrived in Honduras. Another 16 containers filled with food, cleaning supplies and medical items are on the way. A special appeal for Nicaragua is under way, and relief supplies will be purchased in-country.
“The images of the devastation in Central America caused by Hurricane Eta are heartbreaking,” said Food For The Poor President/CEO Ed Raine. “Many families were already struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re grateful for our generous donors and partners who have allowed us to respond immediately with these disaster kits and containers of aid. We know that additional aid will be necessary to help families in these countries in the weeks and months ahead.”
In addition to pre-positioning supplies each hurricane season, FFTP organizes disaster relief kits with essential items that can be airfreighted and distributed within days to affected families in countries served by the charity.
The death toll from Eta across Central America rose to more than 100 as of Friday afternoon, according to news reports. Most of the deaths involved landslides.
Eta hit the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua just south of Puerto Cabezas on Tuesday as a Category 4 hurricane and continued to wreak havoc in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala on Thursday, despite weakening to a tropical depression.
Videos sent this week by CEPUDO, the charity’s partner in Honduras, and A Hand to the Needy, the charity’s partner in Belize, show floodwater turning streets into rivers in both countries.
The storm evoked memories of Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed at least 11,000 in Central America, primarily in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala after producing up to 75 inches of rain, according to news reports.
Food For The Poor began serving in Honduras in 1999, a year after country was slammed by Mitch. The charity has been working in Nicaragua since 1998, partnering with the American Nicaraguan Foundation.
To help the victims of Hurricane Eta as thousands face hunger and the loss of their homes, cash donations are best. To make a donation, please go to: www.foodforthepoor.org/eta.
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry children and families living in poverty primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for orphaned and abandoned children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Kathy Skipper
Director of Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6614
[email protected]
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]
Wanda Wright
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
[email protected]