Update: Hurricane Maria

9 October 2017

Thanks to donations to RESPOND, our Dominican Republic office has provided just under $20,000 to support affected families with relief items. They are making plans to rebuild some homes and estimate needing around $35,000 for rehabilitation efforts.

The 473 impacted children and their families have been provided with emergency food, medicine and other relief items.

Please pray for provision for children and their families in this next phase of response.

4 October 2017

Our field staff and church partners in the Dominican Republic are continuing to assess the impact of Hurricane Maria. They can confirm that one church partner and 473 Compassion-supported children have been significantly impacted. Compassion project staff are using resources from RESPOND to support children and their families. 

One of our church partners in the area took precautionary measures and moved all at risk families to temporary shelters. They’re pleased to report that all these families have now returned home. 

Please continue to pray for all those impacted by Hurricane Maria.

26 September 2017

Compassion Dominican Republic confirms that rains are continuing but project activities are slowly returning to normal. To date, 74 Compassion-supported children have been confirmed as affected and our church partners are busy distributing food, water, mats, mosquito nets and hygiene kits.

21 September 2017

Hurricane Maria passed north of the Dominican Republic yesterday, bringing strong winds and heavy rains, which led to landslides and overflowing rivers and streams. Some areas are without communication due to the flooding. Rains are expected to continue for the next 24 hours.

To date, 42 Compassion-supported children have been reported as affected. Our church partners estimate that in reality more than 280 children and their families have been impacted. 

Our field staff and church partners have mobilised to provide food, water, mats, mosquito nets and hygiene kits to children and their families, using funding from RESPOND. They are assessing the damage to homes, mostly from flooding.

Please pray for God’s protection over children and their families in the Dominican Republic.

Our Compassion office in the Dominican Republic will keep us updated as more information becomes available. We will contact you directly if your sponsored child has been impacted.

20 September 2017

A hurricane warning is in place for La Altagracia, El Seibo, Hato Mayor, Samana, Espaillat, Maria Trinidad Sanches, Puerto Plata, Montecristi, La Romana and Saona Island in the Dominican Republic.

Compassion’s Disaster Response team in the Dominican Republic has been sending alerts to church partners to help the most vulnerable children and families prepare. 

Please join us in praying for

• Our church partners in the Dominican Republic – that their preparations are effective in keeping children safe. 
• Families in Dominica who have had homes and livelihoods devastated.
• The people of Puerto Rico as Hurricane Maria makes landfall. Windspeeds of 110mph were recorded on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as the eyewall passed over.

19 September 2017

Hurricane Maria is heading across the Caribbean Sea as a category 5 storm set to cause further widespread damage. The third in a string of devastating hurricanes to sweep through the region in recent weeks. 

In just 30 hours, Maria’s intensity exploded from 65 mph on Sunday to 160 mph by Monday night, the National Hurricane Centre said. Wreckage left by Hurricane Irma, which could be picked up by high winds, poses a new threat to islanders.

Whilst we await further news from our teams on the ground in the Dominican Republic, we ask you to continue to pray for them and their safety.

_{Sources: BBC, The Guardian}