Church in Bahamas reaches out
to victims of Hurricane Dorian
Archbishop Patrick Pinder of Nassau has appealed to
Catholics worldwide to help them meet the immediate as well as long term needs
of the people.
By Robin Gomes
More than 40 people have been reported killed in the Bahamas
after Hurricane Dorian tore through the Caribbean island chain last
week.
The devastating category-5 storm made landfall on 1
September on the northwest of the archipelago with wind gusts reaching up to
354 km/h and sea surges of 4 to 7 meters, becoming the strongest tropical
cyclone on record. It remained stationary for 3 days over the islands of Grand
Bahama and Abaco, where it caused widespread damage.
Health Minister Duane Sands on Sunday told the Associated
Press that 44 people have been killed so far. The toll is likely to rise as
security forces and other teams search devastated areas.
Prime Minister Hubert Minnis described it as “one of the
greatest national crises in our country’s history.”
“Massive destruction”
Archbishop Patrick Pinder of Nassau, the
capital, appealed for help for the affected people, describing the tragedy as a
“massive destruction on a scale we’ve never before seen in the history of our
little nation.”
In a video message on the archdiocesan website,
Archbishop Pinder said that many are rendered homeless and some 70,000 people
have been hit.
Infrastructure, institutions and businesses have been
severely damaged, and many lives have been lost and the death toll is likely to
rise as more bodies are found.
The Bahamas, he noted, is in the hurricane zone, and people
need to be prepared to be in a better position to respond when such disasters
strike.
Immediate and long term response
The first response, he said, is to provide the very basic
needs of the people, namely, food, water, shelter, clothing, etc. Archbishop
Pinder said that his archdiocese is calling on its Catholic partners overseas
to help provide some of the basic needs of the affected people. But the scale
of the destruction left behind by Hurricane Dorian is so enormous that their
rebuilding effort is going to take a very long time. Hence the immediate
response of the Church is very important and the long term response is also
going to be equally important.
Archbishop Pinder pointed out that it not only a question of
providing material help. People also need spiritual, mental and psychological
help, which, he said, the archdiocese needs to pay close attention
to.
Pope Francis
While flying from Rome to the Mozambican capital, Maputo, on
4 September, at the start of a 3-nation visit, Pope Francis urged for prayers
for the victims of Hurricane Dorian. “Those poor people,” he said, “who from
one day to the next have lost their homes, everything, even their lives.”
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin has also
sent a telegram of condolence on behalf of the Pope to Archbishop Patrick
Pinder of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, urging the international
community to respond with “prompt and effective assistance”.
Urgent needs
According to the United Nations, some 70,000 people are in
need of food and shelter.
With drinking water resources contaminated, fears of
diarrhoea and waterborne diseases loom large in the aftermath of the
hurricane.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has launched an urgent
appeal for $4 million to scale up its humanitarian response and address the
most immediate needs of children and families across the Bahamas, including
access to safe drinking water and sanitation, nutrition, psychosocial support
and non-formal education activities.
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