Food For The Poor Prepares for Hurricane Elsa in Haiti, Caribbean
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (July 2, 2021) Food For The Poor is preparing for an anticipated urgent need for aid in Haiti, where Hurricane Elsa could unleash strong winds and heavy rains in a country already beset by a humanitarian crisis fueled by civil unrest, gang violence and a spike in COVID-19 infections.
FFTP also is expecting Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to feel the effects of a fast-moving Elsa.
“It is the calm before the storm,” said Nakhle Hado, who oversees disaster preparedness for FFTP-Jamaica. “We are preparing. We are praying that the storm will shift from us.”
This week, FFTP shipped three containers of canned goods from its Coconut Creek warehouse to Haiti. The charity has more than 130 containers of aid either en route to Haiti, at the port or in its warehouse in Port-au-Prince.
Hurricane Elsa formed early today just west of the Caribbean island of Barbados, one day after the system became the fifth-named storm of 2021.
The center of Elsa was passing near the islands of St. Vincent and St Lucia this morning. The system is expected to continue west-northwest over the Caribbean and is likely to remain a hurricane while approaching Hispaniola and Jamaica this weekend, according to AccuWeather.
Winds over parts of Hispaniola, an island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, may gust to over hurricane force of 75 mph. Torrential rain could lead to flash flooding and mudslides, especially in areas where there is deforestation.
“Even a two-hour rainfall on a good day presents all kinds of problems with flooding,” FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said. “We should imagine yet another catastrophe on top of a catastrophe. This could be really devastating.”
Earlier in the spring, the charity shipped a disaster relief kit to Haiti to help staff there respond immediately if a storm or other disaster strikes. Kits also were sent to Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
The kits, which contain water purification packets, oral rehydration solutions, hygiene items, children’s activity books, disaster blankets, solar-powered lanterns and tarps, have been deployed to help families affected by the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
Learn more about the charity’s pre-positioned disaster kits in this video:
https://youtu.be/y93opRRBIBM.
There are three ways donors can help FFTP deliver aid to Haiti:
•Make a cash donation. Go to www.FoodForThePoor.org/haitirelief.
•Purchase and donate items through FFTP’s AmazonSmile Charity List:
www.FoodForThePoor.org/emergencysupplies.
•Bring canned goods to the charity’s Coconut Creek warehouse, 6401 Lyons Road, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. For more information on the specific items accepted, please go to www.FoodForThePoor.org/help-now/haiti-crisis/.
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 vulnerable children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]