wfn.org | PC(USA) Sends $15,000 to Mexico for Flood Relief

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

14-October-1999 
99345 
 
    PC(USA) Sends $15,000 to Mexico for Flood Relief 
 
    Money will be used for food, blankets and plastic sheeting 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With the death toll and damage estimates rising in the 
wake of Mexico's worst flooding in 40 years, Presbyterian Disaster 
Assistance (PDA) has sent $15,000 to the rain-drenched region to be used 
for food and other emergency relief. 
 
    Working through Church World Service (CWS) - the relief arm of the 
National Council of Churches - PDA forwarded the money on Wednesday. It is 
to be used in Tabasco, Chiapas and Oaxaca, which have been hit 
exceptionally hard. The money, from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, 
will be used to buy food, blankets and plastic sheeting, according to PDA 
coordinator Susan Ryan. 
 
     The effort is part of a coordinated CWS disaster response that 
combines the contributions of Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and 
people from other denominations and agencies. The aid is desperately needed 
in eastern, southern and central Mexico, where victims of flooding and mud 
slides are clamoring for food and water. 
 
    "This is to take care of the immediate need of water, food for folks in 
shelters, blankets and plastic sheeting for people to provide them with 
temporary protection from the rain," Ryan said. "The damage has been very 
significant." 
 
    Ryan said flooding was far worse than those related to Hurricane 
Pauline in 1997 and in the southern state of Chiapas last year. She said 
Church World Services and Presbyterian disaster officials are formulating 
plans to help families who have lost their homes. 
 
    Authorities have said at least 425 people were killed and about 200,000 
others were left homeless by flood waters that have swept through nearly 
one-third of Mexico's 31 states since Oct. 1. It is still raining in many 
parts of Mexico. Washed-out bridges and roads have left hundreds of 
communities isolated. Landslides have destroyed or damaged houses in dozens 
of towns and villages. People have been carried away by torrents. 
 
    Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has been working through the PC(USA)'s 
denominational partners in Mexico. 
 
     "We have been in touch with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church of Mexico as well as with the Presbyterian Church in Oaxaca," Ryan 
said. "The Reformed Church of America has particularly strong relationships 
with the Presbyterian Church in Chiapas, and worked closely with them in 
response to flooding a year ago." 
 
    Presbyterian churches in the affected areas are responding by 
collecting drinking water, essential medicines, blankets and food. Some are 
providing shelter for the homeless. 
 
    "With immediate needs, (the Mexican churches) are extremely generous 
and move quickly," Ryan said."We found them to be very organized." 
 
            Emergency supplies are especially important for rain-saturated 
Oaxaca, where residents are still cleaning up after a powerful earthquake 
measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale that shook the southern state on Sept. 
30. Approximately 850 houses and 1,300 schools have been destroyed in 
villages that have Presbyterian churches, according to an assessment by the 
Presbyterian Church of Oaxaca, San Pablo. 
 
    Meanwhile, officials are keeping a close eye on dams in the flooded 
areas. Ryan said four large hydroelectric dams in Chiapas are operating at 
98 percent capacity. Government officials have opened sluice gates to 
relieve the pressure. 
 
    "But it is continuing to rain, and there is great concern about a 
possible breach of the dams," Ryan said. 
 
    In Tenango, 100 miles northeast of Mexico City, a foot-wide crack 
appeared in the face of a turn-of-the-century U.S.-built dam that towers 70 
feet above the town. Earlier this week, teams of volunteers bolstered the 
dam with gravel and rock mixed with lime; authorities later said the danger 
had passed, and 3,000 people who had been evacuated were allowed to return. 
 
    South of Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador also suffered from 
extensive flooding as a result of a tropical depression over the Gulf of 
Mexico. Those areas are still recovering from last year's Hurricane Mitch, 
which claimed an estimated 10,000 lives in Central America. PDA recently 
released an additional $500,000 to support the Christian Commission for 
Development in its efforts to rebuild the region. 
 
    The PC(USA) has established an account for contributions to the relief 
effort. Donations can be sent through normal giving channels, or sent 
directly to Central Receiving Service, Section 300, 100 Witherspoon Street, 
Louisville, KY 40289. Please use the following account number: Mexico 
#9-2000014. 
 
    Gifts may be made by credit card through the secure Presbyterian 
Disaster Assistance Web site - http://pda.pcusa.org - or by calling 
PresbyTel at (800)872-3283. To register a volunteer work team for future 
response, call PresbyTel at (800)872-3283.   

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