Disaster
In a few minutes, your life can be torn apart. Winds, rain, waves or shaking can take away everything you love. Or over a few months or years, your home can become unsafe.
We walk with our neighbors through every stage of the disaster cycle. CWS programs help people prepare for the worst, making plans and gathering supplies. When an emergency happens, we team up with other responders to meet immediate needs. And when the time is right, we shift our focus to long-term recovery. When people are forced from their homes, we work hard to make sure they have safe and dignified lives.
The road to recovery and safety may be a long one, but no one should walk it alone.
When the Land turns to Liquid
A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, in September 2018. It triggered tsunamis and a phenomenon called liquefaction, when the ground literally turns to liquid. It moved entire villages, swallowed houses and destroyed infrastructure.
We immediately began to mobilize a response. Soon we were delivering water to thousands of families each day, distributing critical supplies and promoting hygiene among displaced families. As weeks turned to months, we focused on helping families build transitional shelters, build or repair water systems, and build sanitary bathrooms.
Latest Updates
Emergency Appeal: Flash Floods and Landslides in Timor-Leste and Indonesia
Appeal Code: 7102 Situation Floods, flash floods and landslides have caused significant damage in Indonesia’s southern-most province of East Nusa Tenggara as well as neighboring Timor-Leste. Torrential rains from Tropical Cyclone Seroja, one of the most destructive storms to hit the region in years, turned communities into wastelands of mud and uprooted trees, sending thousands fleeing to shelters. Many roads …
Emergency Appeal: Expanding Welcome
Appeal Code: 6303 Situation In February 2021 the Biden administration issued an executive order signaling the administration’s promise to restore and rebuild the life-saving program and committing to raising the refugee admissions goal to 125,000 for Fiscal Year 2022 with a revised refugee admissions goal of 62,500 for FY 2021 — an important step toward returning the resettlement program to …
Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Nicaragua
In early November 2020, Hurricane Eta slammed into Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast. Two weeks later, Hurricane Iota struck the same communities. These back-to-back blows destroyed homes, crops, animals and livelihoods. CWS and our partners have worked with communities in the area for years. We support the food security and community development work of trusted local organization Accion Medica Cristiana, or AMC. …