Fallout from Felix

Reports from Children International agencies in Guatemala and Honduras indicate they have experienced serious flooding from Hurricane Felix. Our staff in San Pedro Sula (Honduras) report that the government evacuated residents from low-lying parts of El Milagro, including families of sponsored children. In Guatemala, evacuations as a result of Felix have not been necessary.

Agency personnel in Honduras and Guatemala are on the ground gathering information and checking on the wellbeing of sponsored children and their families. Our experienced staff stands ready to provide immediate relief for affected sponsored families as needed.

Felix crashed ashore early Tuesday morning near the Honduras-Nicaragua borders as a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds. It was the second Category 5 storm to hit Central America this year. Hurricane Dean slammed into the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico just two weeks ago, marking the first recorded instance of two such storms making landfall in a single hurricane season since record keeping began in 1886.


It is Children International’s policy to contact sponsors when we can verify their sponsored child has been directly affected by a disaster.

For updates on the region, visit our website at www.children.org, or check back here on the blog.

Typhoon Durian Update

I had a chance the other day to chat with Vicki Medrano, our regional director for Asia, regarding our ongoing efforts in the Philippines to help the survivors of Typhoon Durian. As you may recall, this was the natural disaster that brought incredible death and destruction to an area where many of our sponsored children live.

It’s hard to convey with mere words or even photos the suffering that people living in the area around Tabaco and Legazpi, in Albay province, endured as the typhoon raged through the countryside. But the outpouring of support from our sponsors left no doubt about how much you care.

The situation remains grim for many displaced families, thousands of whom remain sheltered in schoolhouses – which they must vacate early each morning so children can attend classes. They wait in the sweltering heat under the meager shelter of thin plastic tents until they can re-occupy the only slightly more comfortable classrooms at the end of the day.

This typhoon survivor was photographed by Anthony Lorcha, a Children International staff member who lost his own home to Typhoon Durian.

Children International is working closely with local government officials and our donors to provide sturdy, typhoon-resistant homes for many of these survivors. Thanks to your contributions and other funds released by the Board of Directors of Children International, much can and will be done to help.

If you’d like to know more about the tragedy in the Philippines and how our sponsors are helping, go to http://www.children.org/ and click on the “Typhoon Durian Relief” button under “Latest News and Features.”

I think you’ll be impressed by what you learn!