UMCOR disaster response teams continue their work in the areas affected by Hurricane Georges in the Caribbean and the United States. One team has been working with the autonomous Methodist Churches in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. They report that two-thirds of the population was affected in Puerto Rico. No township escaped damage, and 170,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. This is the worst natural disaster to hit the island since 1926. Though we have not yet received the team s full report from the Dominican Republic, their brief summary is that the devastation is even worse there.

Negotiations are underway with the Red Cross to use three of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico's camps as mass feeding and relief stations.

Other staff members and consultants have been working with the Florida, Alabama/West Florida and Mississippi Conferences. At the request of the bishops, UMCOR has sent emergency grants to the three affected conferences, and to the Methodist Churches in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. UMCOR has also been responding to victims in Haiti through the UMCOR Haiti office.

Currently, UMCOR is developing plans to send shipments of relief supplies to the islands. Food and clean up supplies have been sent from the UMCOR Depot to Alabama and Mississippi. Hurricane Georges has depleted the shelves at the Depot, and there is an urgent need to restock them. Please call the Depot at (800) 814-8765 for a list of needed items and shipping instructions.

It will take months and possibly years for people to recover from this devastating storm. Please give generously to Hurricanes 98, Advance #982515-0.

Please remember those who suffer from hunger, poverty, disasters, and war in your prayers.

UMCOR Hotline:
Phone: 1-800-841-1235
Web: http://gbgm-umc.org/UMCOR-Hotline/
E-mail: umcor@gbgm-umc.org