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The rains began to fall nonstop on Friday the 26th of October and hardly let up until the 2nd week of November. Tropical Storm Noel covered the whole island of Hispaniola, meaning both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
As of the writing of this newsletter www.dr1.com (an English language e-newspaper) is saying “The total number of deaths as a result of TS Noel.. in all 74,500 people have been evacuated from their homes, while 18,625 homes have been affected and 1,805 were completely destroyed.”
Most families affected had their belongings washed out of their houses as waters grew up to six feet high near our area.
| A number of houses were taken by the river. Fatalities were low because the flooding began early in the morning and people had time to evacuate before high tide hit around noon. We have been busy loading up new beds for the refugees daily. It is tedious work as our truck only holds about 9 bed sets per trip and we are traveling to the next city up the road to get them at a good price. The reward is seeing the eyes of the people light up when they know someone cared enough for them to get them a nice mattress and box spring.
| Local churches and school families have been gathering clothes to give out, and Debbie and her ministry team of family, friends, and teachers have been going out steadily to the Rieles area to provide for the needy. The Rieles church was wiped out, and we are praying for a piece of land or a place to meet to continue the work there.
In Ranchito it was worse. We saw electrical poles knocked over, people digging in the mud, sorting through and throwing out ruined items. Along the streets mattresses were drying in the sun. Recovery will take time. |
