As Maria slams into St. Croix and Puerto Rico this morning, you may be wondering how people cope with a catastrophic hurricane — and how you can help alleviate their pain and loss.
For an idea of what may lie ahead for St. Croix and the affected areas of Puerto Rico, consider what the storm did to the vibrant, gorgeous Nature Island nation of Dominica (population 74,000). After the eyewall of the Category-5 monster swept over the country late Monday night, all contact of any kind with its population was lost for upwards of 24 hours. When images of the aftermath finally began trickling out from aid flights this morning, the video was heart-wrenching and sobering:
And sadly, the first word from Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit (who famously live-blogged the destruction of his own house as Maria approached) is grim:
Soon after this conversation, at dawn this morning, PM Skerrit was taken on overflight of Dominica on a helicopter flown in from the neighboring island of Martinique. As he surveyed the damage, his thoughts no doubt soon turned to how to start getting his country back on its feet.
Many regional neighbors have already kicked off significant aid efforts, some bringing essential goods as soon as today. As in any such disaster, some of what was before will be gone, never to return.
It will take more than a few days to rebuild what Dominica has lost. And that’s where we come in.
I would urge caution before donating to ANY #Maria relief fund -- in the case of Dominica, ONLY do so for those accredited by the government itself. Here is the prime minister's web page: http://www.opm.gov.dm/. Under "Erika Recovery", he links to several donor options, including one where you could give directly to the Dominican government relief effort for 2015 Tropical Erika. I'm sure his site will be updated soon with similar links for Hurricane Maria relief for Dominica. Bookmark the page and check back.
And of course, if you can donate any essential goods and are local to NYC, please consider contributing to the government-sponsored NY collection this weekend.
Both St. Croix and Puerto Rico fall under the purview of the American Red Cross, which (for all its problems) is the best-equipped outfit on the ground in both places to provide both immediate and continuing disaster relief:
www.redcross.org/...
Once I see broader officially-sanctioned relief funds set up for these and any other areas affected by Maria, I will post a brief reminder/update. It may be a while.
In the meantime, please contribute what you can and keep the people of Dominica, St. Croix and Puerto Rico in your thoughts. Any solace and comfort you can offer to anyone you know with family or friends in these places will be greatly, greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Wednesday, Sep 20, 2017 · 1:51:01 PM +00:00 · InteGritty
Thanks to Denise Oliver Velez for republishing this diary and cross-listing it in her excellent liveblog of the unfolding human cost that Maria is inflicting on Puerto Rico today: www.dailykos.com/…
Thanks too to jrooth for cross-listing this diary in his (as usual) thorough and informative account of the meteorological analysis of Maria today and in coming days here: www.dailykos.com/…
Much appreciated.
Please feel free to share any material in this diary far and wide with no attribution. Anything to get the word out, and to start helping people affected by Maria. They will need our help, now and in the future.
-IG
Wednesday, Sep 20, 2017 · 8:35:15 PM +00:00 · InteGritty
Denise passes along this info on another Hurricane Maria relief fundraiser in the NYC area tomorrow:
I also see the International Red Cross (IFRC) announcing they will shortly be on the ground in Dominica to do disaster relief:
Information on their IFRC Disaster Relief Emergency Fund, including how to donate, can be found here: media.ifrc.org/...