04 Sep Hurricane Felix Strikes Honduras

Hurricane Felix, a top-level Category 5 storm, struck the northeast coast of Nicaragua this morning with 160 mph winds. It is moving inland at 16 mph, and is now at Category 3 status. According to an email from Honduras about 10 am, rain has begun falling on La Ceiba, Honduras, the headquarters of our work in Honduras. Some areas of Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador will see 10-15 inches of rain, with 25 inches falling in some mountainous areas.

Felix is expected to cut across central Honduras, where some of our 80-some churches are located, including the capital city of Tegucigalpa, where missionary Abby Waterbury is stationed with World Gospel Outreach.

You may remember Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed 11,000 people and left 8,000 missing, mostly in Honduras and Nicaragua. Mitch severely ravaged La Ceiba, Honduras, as well as other places along the north coast where United Brethren churches are located.

Dennis and Debbie Osberg, missionaries who serve with the Academia Los Pinares school in Tegucigalpa (Dennis is principal), sent this email at noon today:

This morning as I write, Hurricane Felix is hitting eastern Honduras and Nicaragua with full force. The President of Honduras cancelled all schools in the country for today and tomorrow, so we’re definitely home and safely waiting. Please pray for the weakening of the storm as it passes through the entire country of Honduras and for His protection through it all. As we experienced in 1998 with Hurricane Mitch, the biggest problem in the city of Tegucigalpa is severe flooding and damage from the huge amount of rainfall causing mud slides throughout the mountains. Thankfully, we live on the mountain and not in the valley of the city. But so many people are affected during the storms, and our hearts are heavy for their protection and safety through whatever comes our way.

Right now we are watching CNN coverage and waiting peacefully. We have extra water, food, candles and each other, so we’ll be just fine….Thank you so much for your prayers during this time. Especially for many in the country that will have it much worse than our family. We fully expect to loose electricity and of course have no idea how long that will last.

Felix is projected to clip part of El Salvador, slam into southern Belize on Wednesday, and then cut across northern Guatemala and southern Mexico.

Please remember our Honduran brethren in your prayers, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday, as Hurricane Felix proceeds inland and people are threatened with mudslides, flooding, and destroyed homes.

23 Aug Update on Hurricane Damage in Jamaica

Rev. Winston Smith called the United Brethren Office today and gave a report of the situation in Jamaica after Hurricane Dean.
 
The Parsonage and Christian Education Building/Dorm in Yorktown received a lot of damage. Roofs are off, rafters gone or broken, and much water damage. Many homes in the area are also damaged. Pastor Smith said that it would be impossible for a group to stay there if they came to help with repairs. He suggested that funds to help rebuild and repair would be better at this time.
 
New Garden Church in the hills lost its roof. He estimates the cost for replacing the roof at $150,000 Jamaican dollars or roughly $2300 US. Many homes were lost or damaged, and many people from the church and community lost most of their possessions.
 
The power returned to Kingston this morning. However, there is no power or phone service (land or cell) in the outlying areas. He has been having difficulty getting an assessment of damage due to lack of communication or being able to get to areas.
 
A Conference Council meeting will be held on Monday, August 27, to get an assessment from the different areas. Pastor Smith would like the needs assessment sent to him today or tomorrow so he can distribute it and go over it with the Council. The fax is working at the office.
 
Winston is receiving reports that the town of Malvern was hit hard (the police station and another public building were completely destroyed). He has not heard, however, anything about the camp, church, or parsonage there.
 
Gary Dilley, Director of Global Ministries, told Pastor Smith that we would continue to pray for them and that we would keep in touch to learn of other needs.