|
By Georgia East | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
August 29, 2008
As local Jamaican expatriates warily watched Gustav's advance on their birthplace on Thursday, South Florida's relief agencies mobilized efforts to send food, money and school supplies to storm victims in their hard-hit Haitian homeland.
"The main problem is flooding," said Angel Aloma, executive director of Food for the Poor, an international relief and development organization with headquarters in Coconut Creek.
Food for the Poor sent out an urgent appeal for donations this week to replenish supplies of lumber and other roofing material. The supplies are needed to rebuild hundreds of storm-damaged homes in Haiti.
Gustav pounded Hispaniola with 90 mph winds and torrential downpours that dumped up to 15 inches of rain. Landslides and flooding reportedly killed 51 people in Haiti and eight people in the neighboring Dominican Republic. Some say Gustav may have caused serious damage to some of Haiti's crops and washed away several roads and bridges.
In Haiti, there also were reports of isolated demonstrations over rising food prices.
"Whenever there is anything like this people get so frustrated because their lives on a daily basis are so tough that anything can easily put them over the edge," Aloma said.
South Florida's Caribbean American community is often a lifeline for islands like Jamaica and Haiti after major storm damage.
Philo Thelot, president of the Haitian American Foundation International in Delray Beach, said he plans to send rice and oil and other food staples to Haiti.
"Money is not the key because in some areas there are no goods available," he said.
Activist Eric Yankwitt, of Fort Lauderdale, said he is working with other relief agencies to gather school supplies and building material to be sent to Haiti in a few days.
"Haiti is just being beat up," Yankwitt said, referring to the various storms that have hit the impoverished nation.
While relief efforts for Haiti gathered steam, Jamaica braced for Gustav and expatriates called radio shows for the latest updates.
On Thursday, representatives at Jamaica National Bank wire transfer services said more people than normal stopped in at the branch in Lauderdale Lakes to send money to Jamaica and add minutes to their loved ones' cell phones, another common service these days.
"There has been a slight increase," manager Carmen Bartlett said Thursday, adding she expects to see more of a spike today after the storm hits the island.
Georgia East can be reached at geast@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4629
|
