Appeal Code: 628N
Situation
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States has forecasted another active Atlantic hurricane season. Its outlook is for 13-20 named storms; 6-10 hurricanes; and 3-5 major hurricanes.
The first storm to make landfall, Tropical Storm Claudette, struck near New Orleans on Saturday, June 19. It killed at least 14 people. Tropical Storm Danny made landfall in South Carolina on June 28, the same time that Hurricane Enrique affected southwestern Mexico.
Hurricane season officially lasts until the end of November. Historically, the most powerful storms strike in the late summer and fall.
CWS Response
There are three components to CWS hurricane response efforts:
- Immediate coordination with and financial support for partners in affected areas. Through these relationships, we can meet urgent needs.
- Shipping CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets, Hygiene Kits, School Kits and Blankets in response to requests from organizations on the ground.
- Financial and expert support for long-term recovery in the months and years after the storm. We also work to that vulnerable groups such as undocumented neighbors or recently-arrived refugees are included in the recovery process.
Following Tropical Storms Claudette and Danny, we are liaising with partners to discuss immediate and long-term needs, and we are standing by to respond to requests for supplies. We will do the same for each storm that hits this hurricane season.
Looking ahead to the rest of hurricane season, we are in urgent need of funds and supplies. Financial support is the most flexible way to ensure a timely and effective response to a disaster. Additionally, the stock of CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets in our warehouses is critically low. Our goal is to have 30,000 buckets on hand during hurricane season. As of the end of May, we only had about 8,200 in stock.
How to Help
Donations can be made online at cwsglobal.org/hurricanes-2021 or sent to Church World Service (P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515). Please designate your gift to 2021 Hurricane Response.
Learn more about our U.S. partnerships and long-term recovery work here. For more information or to get involved, please contact Mark Munoz, Associate Director, Domestic Disaster Program, at mmunoz@cwsglobal.org.
Learn more about the CWS Kits program at cwskits.org. If you are from a congregation that would like to learn more about this ministry or discuss how you can help, please contact Director of Congregational Giving Matthew Stevens at mstevens@cwsglobal.org.