Heavy Rains, Flooding and Mudslides Overwhelm Milot

Though spared the full wrath of Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria, Hôpital Sacré Coeur and Milot have endured the tragic effects of over a week of fierce tropical storms. Forecasts call for daily damaging weather through mid-October.

Heavy thunderstorms caused the river to rise 10 feet and overflow into area dwellings. A few days ago, muddy flood waters rushed into some of the older hospital buildings. HSC staff worked through the night to save expensive hospital equipment and remove the water.

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More floods threaten.

The village of Milot remains covered with thick mud and dirty water. The rain saturated ground continues to spawn numerous mudslides washing away bamboo homes and the occupants’ meager belongings and food stocks. Beds and mattresses have been destroyed. Children’s school clothes and shoes are buried in the mud. Banana and other fruit trees that once served as reliable food sources lie broken on the ground.

The people are cold, wet, hungry and tired. The continuing storms have left them without a bite to eat, fresh water or a place to sleep. Many a mother cries as she pulls her children’s school uniforms from the mud.

Led by HSC CEO Dr. Harold Previl, the hospital staff and a group of local men continue to assemble food packs and distribute them to the community, especially to children, the blind, crippled and elderly. Distributions will continue if supplies last. Hôpital Sacré Coeur is packed with people seeking relief from injuries and health problems.

Flood 3

Your Help is Needed Now!

Storm 2Storm 6Right now, your support is crucial as the terrible 3s of heavy rains, flooding and mudslides continue. Here’s why your support can mean the difference between life and death:

• The loss of clean water poses an immediate health threat. People die if they go without water for 3 days.

• Without food, the number of malnourished children increases and weakened adults become more prone to injuries and unable to fight off infections and disease. Families are threatened when the breadwinner falls ill or injured.

• Rainfalls drastically increase the number of mosquitoes and their debilitating and often deadly array of viral and parasitic diseases: malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya and lymphatic filariasis — to name just a few.

• Storm season is now cholera season as the waters let loose often deadly cholera.

Please, Donate Today. Every Dollar Matters.
 

 
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100% of your donation goes to relief efforts.

Banana 1