In the last decade the Caribbean Islands, and in particular the chain of the Bahamas, have been the target of numerous massive hurricanes. Three times between 2004 and 2005, the island of Grand Bahama was hit by a category three hurricane. The destruction caused by these giants take years of clean-up, reparation and rehabilitation to bring these communities back. Two years after Floyd a category 4 hurricane hit, a team of volunteers from New England led by VOC founder, the first group from the area, arrived to find the northern part of the island of Abaco nearly destroyed. Rubbish, timber and felled roofs lined the countryside. Uprooted and burned trees donned the landscape. Many residents felt powerless to come back and had lost hope. Thanks to volunteer teams such as this one, hope for these individuals became a reality.

To learn more about needs in the Bahamas visit www.Islandjourneys.org.

HURRICANE WILMA EMERGENCY APPEAL

The Situation:

For the third time in fourteen months the island of Grand Bahama has been hit by a category three hurricane. October 26th was a bleak day in the lives residents of West Grand Bahama. Wilma unlike her predecessor last year approached the island from the South West and inflicted punishing winds and water surges onto the Coast of South West Grand Bahama. The areas of Eight Mile Rock, Pinder’s Point, Holmes Rock, Hunters, Bootle Bay and a few smaller communities suffered the full brunt of the storm. Hundreds of homes were devastated by the surge. Some were literally washed away by the storm surge which is estimated to have risen between eight and ten feet. This was driven by winds of up to 113 miles per hour. Hundreds of people have been displaced by the storm. Amazingly only one death has been reported.

There has also been great damage to government and other social facilities. Clinics and schools have been destroyed. Churches, which serve as the centre of many of the communities, have been totally destroyed. Schools are destroyed, roads and main thorough ways have been restricted and many vehicles have been lost. “The Fish Fry” which was one of the main sources of income for the Eight Mile Rock area, the third largest community in the Bahamas, has been totally destroyed. Left standing are only remnants of foundations. Some families remain in local shelters, others have temporarily repairs portions of their homes and are living there; while others have move in with relatives and friends.

The township of West End, which was hit twice last season, also received major wind damage. Many roofs were either destroyed or heavily damaged. Once again the local school lost a portion of its roof.

Unlike last year’s hurricanes where the entire island was decimated, the Freeport area is still functional. Currently there seems to be a sufficient amount of relief supplies and food on the island. Food and water seem to be flowing into the affected areas. New Providence Community Church and Island Journeys, in partnership with International Rescue and the Rotary Clubs of Grand Bahama, have collected and distributed food, water and toiletries to almost three hundred individuals. We are also assisting local churches to set up feeding centers. Food supplies have been shipped to Grand Bahama to assist with this. Currently there is medical relief available on the island, however, as time progress the local health system is likely to experience great strain.

While we emerge from the emergency phase, this situation still needs to be watched as we approach our winter season. In Grand Bahama last year temperature 30 degrees Fahrenheit. This will prove detrimental to those families which are living in shelters or partially destroyed homes.

Immediate Needs:

Psychosocial Relief and Recovery
The response to this new disaster has to be a psychosocial approach. Daily routines have been disturbed. This in itself provides a psychological affect on residents. There are many signs of shock and trauma on the faces of many of the residents who are either sitting on their foundations and looking in disbelief or crying asking for assistance as people and cars pass them by.

Many of the children who are playing unsupervised in the yards in the midst of rubble seem to be in good spirits but as we know this will end as the visitors cease to travel to these areas.

Childcare Workers
There is a need for individuals to travel to the affected area to work with children.

These teams will focus on play groups and activities for the children. They should allow them to talk about the disaster and even write stories and be allowed to express their emotions in creative ways. This will help the children to talk about the disaster as well as give their parents time to go about trying to seek help or gather more of their belonging or begin the recovery process. Church groups, teachers or individuals interested in working with children are welcomed.

Trauma Counseling
Both professional and non professional counselors are needed to carryout trauma counseling. People are in shock and they are not sure what will happen next. Some have lost all of their personal possessions and jobs and not sure how they will survive. There is also need to give support to the social workers and other service personnel that are involved in the psychosocial recovery efforts.

Livelihood
People are in need of income in order to begin the recovery process. They ideally should work closer to their homes and it would be a great benefit if they have no income they can get paid for helping with the recovery of the entire community. Manual laborers, cooks, domestic workers, construction workers will all be in need of jobs.

Housing
While the exact amount of houses damaged or destroyed are still undetermined it is estimated that at least 100 families have been misplaced. This represent more than one thousand people. The quicker these families are returned to their homes the quicker they can begin the process to a full recovery.

For more information please contact New Providence Community Center 242-327-1660. Shaun Ingraham shaundonavon@yahoo.com, Diane Turnquest -Diane@npcconline.org or Jennifer Hadland -Jennifer@npcconline.org, In Grand Bahama Ms. Jan Thompson at 242-375-7873.