Cholera Concern in Haiti, Relief Supplies En Route in Wake of Storm

By Michael Ireland, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ANS, Oct. 12, 2016) -- Crisis-trained chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team will deploy to the Southeastern U.S. in the wake of destruction left by the massive Hurricane Matthew which left coastal communities from Florida to North Carolina submerged in flood waters and a reported 18 casualties in those states.

The hurricane, which dropped from a category 4 to category 1 storm before making landfall, prompted state leaders to call for the evacuation of nearly 2 million Americans. The storm produced widespread wind damage and flooding, leading to closed roads, swollen rivers, and devastated communities.

“Hurricane Matthew struck with ferocious power,” said Jack Munday, international director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, “and we still don’t know the full extent to which it has damaged areas of impact. Our team is prepared to offer hope and comfort to the people affected by this storm in the midst of their pain.”

An initial team of eight chaplains have deployed to Bluffton, S.C., where they will be responding in coordination with Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian disaster relief organization also headed by Franklin Graham. Together the two ministries will address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of those who have been affected. Additional teams are pre-positioned in eastern North Carolina where assessments are still being made and evacuation orders have not yet been lifted. Chaplains have been able to minister to those displaced by the storms who are currently taking refuge in evacuation shelters in that area.

Graham called for prayer on his Facebook page, “Hurricane Matthew has wreaked havoc along its deadly path. A number have died, and tens of thousands of people have no electricity even on the coast here in my home state of N.C. Join me in praying not only for those here in the U.S. who are hurting, but also for our neighbors in Haiti.”

The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team also continues to minister in Louisiana in the wake of severe flooding that struck that state in August.

The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team was developed by Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has since grown into a nationwide network of chaplains in 48 states who are specifically trained to deal with crisis situations. They have deployed to more than 230 disaster sites, including shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.

Meanwhile, in the midst of Food For The Poor's biggest delivery of aid to Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, the country is bracing for a rise in cholera cases less than a week after Hurricane Matthew killed hundreds, destroyed homes and knocked out supplies of clean food and water.

The Florida-based Christian relief ministry Food For The Poor has shipped critically needed items including food, water, blankets and hygiene kits with soap, toothpaste and other personal care items to help prevent the spread of disease. The charity is also trying to secure antibiotics and oral rehydration salts to treat cholera victims.

Damage from Hurricane Matthew and lack of access to fresh water is facilitating the spread of the potentially deadly disease.

"The situation in Haiti is serious. The people of Haiti need help, and they needed it 'yesterday,'" said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor's President/CEO. "We have shipped supplies and we will send more but these people need everybody's help."

The latest information from Haiti:

*Access to clean water is a matter of life and death. Food For The Poor has moved quickly to ship and install eight solar-powered water filtration units, including three in Les Cayes, three in Jeremie, one in Torbeck and one in Port Salut.

*Water Mission, in partnership with Food For The Poor, is helping to install the water filtration units. The filtration systems each can provide up to 10,000 gallons of water per day and reduce waterborne diseases by removing suspended pathogens.

*Aid is being sent today to Jeremie by road, which was damaged by Hurricane Matthew and rebuilt by the government.Additional relief is heading today by barge to Pestel, east of Jeremie on the north coast, which is only accessible by boat.

*Nine 40-foot containers of aid were sent by barge to Jeremie on Friday and Saturday from Food For The Poor's Haiti warehouse.

The dead in Haiti from Hurricane Matthew number in the hundreds. The Associated Press reported an official in Grand-Anse saying at least 522 deaths were confirmed there alone, not including people in remote communities still cut off by collapsed roads and bridges. Reuters put the number at more than 1,000, based on a tally of numbers from local officials.

The central government in Haiti said Sunday its official count for the whole country was 336, including 191 deaths in Grand-Anse.

The relief ministry says support from generous donors is critical for the long-term continuity of Food For The Poor's relief effort.

Here is a video of Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor's President/CEO, talking about the situation in Haiti: www.FoodForThePoor.org/hurricanerelief.

To help storm victims in Haiti, cash donations are best. To help right now, please call 1-800-427-9104 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/hurricane.

For those who would rather donate goods, Food For The Poor is accepting canned meats, canned fish and canned milk at its Coconut Creek warehouse at 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, Fla. 33073. At this time, the charity is not accepting clothing donations.

Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America.

This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

For more information on the ministry of the BGEA Rapid Response Team, including videos, photos, news articles and an interactive map of former and current deployments, visit www.billygraham.org/rrt Updates can also be found at www.facebook.com/RRTChaplains.

Photo captions: 1) BGEA Rapid Response Team in South East USA (BGEA RRT Photo). 2) View of the immense devastation in Jeremie in southwest Haiti. (Photo/Food For The Poor). 3) Michael Ireland.

About the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving as Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an Ordained Minister who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for ASSIST News Service since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. Please consider helping Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted Church, by logging-on to: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/ireland-michael

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