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CWS Still in Gulf Coast for Katrina and Rita Recovery, Readies Response for Hurricane Wilma

October 23, 2005

NEW YORK – As monster Hurricane Wilma begins its trek across the Gulf of Mexico toward southwest Florida after a prolonged two-day pounding of Cancun, Mexico, the humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) said today it is prepared to respond with emergency aid and long-range recovery assistance in affected areas.

Wilma is expected to reach the Florida coast by late tonight or early Monday morning. Meteorologists are warning of dangerous storm surges in the Keys and further danger from tornadoes as the storm hits a cold front moving in from the north.

Church World Service disaster responders are already on site in Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, still responding to the protracted emergency relief needs of many survivors who lost everything and for whom long-term recovery continues to look a long way off.

Anticipating another major hurricane in a region that is also still recovering from last year’s multiple major storms, Associate Director for Domestic Emergency Response Linda Reed Brown says, "We are there, we will be there again, and we’ll provide all we possibly can."

"It's true," she said, "that we've experienced a record number of disasters worldwide this past year, and agencies and Americans have poured out their hearts and resources to an amazing degree. But," says Brown, "as Americans, we know that we can and always will find ways to help those in need."

One of the first agencies called out nationally following domestic disasters, Church World Service provides material resources such as emergency clean-up kits, health kits, and blankets, and focuses on long-term recovery needs for the most vulnerable survivors in disaster-affected communities--including those without insurance, the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and minority groups.

CWS's Brown says, "As needs become evident from any damage sustained by Wilma, our responders will work with local faith communities, support the formation of self-standing long-term recovery groups, and will request emergency relief supplies as needed." Church World Service "Gift of the Heart" Health Kits and CWS Blankets are positioned for shipment.

Hurricane Wilma was briefly one of the most intense storms ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. On Wednesday (Oct 19), Wilma briefly reared its head to a Category 5 level, roaring across parts of Cuba, Honduras, Belize, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Cayman Islands, losing intensity but pounding the Mexican coast at Cancun for the past two days.

Church World Service was instrumental in building recovery capacity among vulnerable and under-served populations in Florida last year following the record 2004 hurricane season. FIND (Florida Interfaith Networking in Disasters) and other long-term recovery groups are continuing to respond to emergencies and recovery efforts, drawing from skills and procedures presented in Church World Service Interfaith Trauma and Response Trainings.

Elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, other established long-term recovery partners such as Terrebonne Readiness Assistance Coalition and the Louisiana Interchurch Conference are helping Katrina's and Rita's survivors rebuild their lives; and Church World Service is working with recovery groups that will serve elsewhere in Mississippi and Alabama.

Church World Service is also assisting Katrina's and Rita's evacuees as they move to new communities, working in collaboration with CWS’s existing network of refugee resettlement agencies in ten sites across the U.S.

Humanitarian organization Church World Service responds to natural and human-caused disasters internationally and domestically, and is currently responding to the devastating South Asia earthquake emergency.

Contributions may be made online or by calling (800) 297-1516, or sent via regular mail to:

Church World Service
CWS Gulf Hurricanes 2005
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

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