Helping At Home And Abroad After Sandy

Whether in Haiti or Hoboken, New Jersey, the raging floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy had the same miserable impact for millions of people. While natural disasters don’t distinguish between rich or poor, most of the media coverage from Sandy has focused on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

InterAction members are responding to Sandy’s wrath both at home and in Caribbean nations like Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where the storm first hit before barelling into the U.S. homeland. The Ad Council launched a PSA campaign today, urging monetary donations to help victims of what has been called a “Superstorm.”  For those people wanting to help, monetary donations are often the most efficient and versatile gift. Even a small donation can make a huge difference.  See a list of InterAction members and other organizations responding to the crisis http://sandy.adcouncil.org/.

The American Red Cross is at the frontlines of the response in the United States, offering shelter, supplies and assistance. Faith-based members are working closely within their parishes and others are sending in equipment and using their expertise to help local communities rebuild and recover.

For many communities dislodged by floodwaters and swollen seas it will take months – in some cases years – to recover. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and U.S. President Barack Obama have promised to build back quickly. Fortunately, FEMA and other U.S. government agencies, NGOs, the private sector and many more are well equipped to fulfill that pledge. Such resilience and the ability to “build back fast and better” is not guaranteed in a nation like Haiti where at least 54 people died in the same storm.

In Haiti, communities have not yet recovered from the devastating January 2010 earthquake and the government obviously has less capacity to respond than Washington. Many people were still living in tents and temporary shelters when Hurricane Sandy hit the island, and damage to camps and other infrastructure has made a difficult situation even tougher. In fact, Haiti had still not caught its breath after Hurricane Isaac two months earlier.

This latest storm exacerbated an already precarious food situation in Haiti. Initial assessments put crop losses at 70 percent throughout the southern peninsula and the United Nations and Haiti’s government have warned that hundreds and thousands of people face hunger in the coming months.

InterAction members say about 15,000 animals were killed in just six communes across the southern coast. Even more worrying is that not only have Haitians had their current crops destroyed, they have also lost seeds and equipment needed for the next year’s harvest.

In the Caribbean nations hit first by Hurricane Sandy, InterAction members are supplying relief, including food, water, roofing sheets and hygiene kits. The media spotlight might not be there, but many international NGOs are quietly going about their work, trying to reach the most vulnerable. 

** For more information on the most appropriate way to help during a disaster, go to the Center for International Disaster Information www.cidi.org.