wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] PDA sending $50,000 to help Salvadoran hurricane victims

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8955 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05542
Oct. 10, 2005

PDA sending $50,000 to help
Salvadoran victims of Hurricane Stan

Thousands in Mexico and Central America 
killed or left homeless by mudslides and floods

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has sent $50,000 to El
Salvador to help meet the immediate needs of residents of parts of Central
America and southern Mexico that were pummeled last week by Hurricane Stan. 

	The funds are being channeled through Action by Churches Together
International (ACT), a Geneva-based international alliance of churches and
relief agencies, of which PDA is a member.

	By Monday, mudslides and flooding triggered by Hurricane Stan had
killed more than 700 people and many others were missing and feared dead. In
El Salvador, at least 67 have been killed. Officials there said 54,000
evacuees had gathered in 370 shelters around the country, according to
published reports.

	"We stand ready to provide immediate support," PDA said in a
situation report.  "The level of damage being reported points to a very long
recovery effort."

	At least 652 people are now known to have died in Guatemala, where
hundreds were still missing Monday. That country bore the brunt of the heavy
rains produced by Hurricane Stan, which made landfall Tuesday in the Gulf
coast state of Veracruz, Mexico, before quickly weakening to become a
tropical depression.

	Rescuers in one Guatemalan village struggled Sunday to recover the
bodies of as many as 1,400 Maya Indians killed in a mudslide. Officials were
considering whether to declare the village a mass grave.

	PDA, the relief arm of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is also
committing $30,000 to Guatemala, but won't send funds until Carlos Cardenas,
its Latin America representative, has reached the country and identified a
coordinated response, the situation report said. He is expected to reach
Guatemala this week.

	The immediate need in Guatemala is for food and water. PDA said
supplies cannot be delivered until roads are cleared and bridges are
repaired.

	Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica also reported Hurricane
Stan-related deaths.

	Two-thirds of El Salvador's territory was hit by mudslides. Nearly
150 were reported in the Soyapango neighborhood in the capital, San Salvador.
About 1,500 people have been evacuated from areas of high mudslide risk.

	Meanwhile, in the southern Mexican province of Chiapas, the homes of
the president and secretary of the Presbytery of Chiapas were washed away by
the storm. In recent days, water-covered roads have left the region
accessible only by helicopter, PDA reported.

	The Reformed Church in America has had mission coworkers in these
presbyteries for 80 years. 

	"PDA will support whatever appeal they put out, after the local
presbyteries have done their assessment and budgets," the PDA said in the
situation report.

	In Nicaragua, ACT alliance members are formulating a response budget
and plans. In addition, PDA is aware of severe famine in northern Nicaragua
and has been preparing to respond to that situation as well.

	PDA Coordinator Susan Ryan and Pamela Burdine, PDA's associate for
communication and resources, could not be reached on Monday.

	Contributions for Hurricane Stan relief may be sent through normal
mission-giving channels; designate gifts for account DR000139. To make a gift
by credit card, call PresbyTel at (800) 872-3283, or visit the Web site:
www.pcusa.org/pda/response/latinamerica/hurricanestan-index.htm. For
information about responding to other PDA appeals, visit
www.pcusa.org/pda/donate/accounts.htm. Checks payable to the PC(USA) can be
mailed to: Presbyterian Church (USA), Individual Remittance Processing, P.O.
Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.

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