November 2, 2007

Noel -- which has moved across the Caribbean as a slow-moving tropical storm but has now grown to a Category-1 hurricane -- has reportedly left 118 dead in its wake.

The storm dumped rain on the Bahamas and Cuba on Thursday, forcing some 24,000 evacuations in Cuba alone, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Hardest-hit from the storm were residents of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which share the island of Hispaniola; there, 116 people perished from floods and landslides.

Earlier this week, Lorenzo Mota King, director of long-time CWS partner Social Service of Dominican Churches (SSID), called Noel the "most catastrophic disaster of recent years, not necessarily by the devastating forces of the winds but by its ample range, high volume of water by the heavy rainfall, and the slowness in speed moving across the island."

A report from another CWS partner, Grupo de Pastores Interdenominacionales (GPI), indicated the storm inundated nearly the entire country, including the so-called "bateyes" -- rice fields and sugar-cane land -- in the municipalities of Bayaguana, Guerra, and San Luis.

In these areas, at least 3,000 people were affected by Noel, the majority of them being Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian ancestry, groups that have faced discrimination in the Dominican Republic and are among the country's poorest residents. Communication with some 49 "bateyes" where GPI works remains difficult.

Still, it is known that those in the "bateyes" have lost their belongings and are facing serious and immediate food shortages.

RESPONSE: As part of an initial appeal to respond to the needs in the Dominican Republic, CWS is supporting an effort by GPI to assist the most vulnerable and most impoverished -- those living in the "bateyes" and who in the past have not received assistance by local and national authorities during previous emergencies. "It is extremely important for us to render aid to this marginalized population and offer our hands of aid and solidarity," GPI said in a statement.

The majority of affected areas where GPI plans a response include communities in which GPI has some type of working relationship: in the areas of agriculture, sewing projects, literacy programs, small loans to women's group for small business projects, and immigration and human rights. In communities with such programs, GPI has committees for the implementation of project work.

Specifically, GPI's response will focus on assistance to 679 persons in 15 "bateyes" in the eastern Dominican Republic not far from the border with Haiti and comprised of predominately Haitian residents.

This initial appeal is for $20,000 and will focus on hygiene kits (purchased within the Dominican Republic) that will include soap and toothpaste; and food supplies that will include beans, oil, canned fish, sugar, and rice. Also to be distributed: bedsheets and potable water.

Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be made online, sent to your denomination, or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515. Please designate: 2007 Caribbean Storms (Appeal #6759).

Media Contact: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net