Stephanie Tombari, CRWRC Communications
A powerful and premature hurricane season calls CRWRC's relief response teams to work as Hurricane Emily dragged destruction across Mexico's Yucatan peninsula early Monday.
Emily graduated from tropical storm to hurricane as it reached the shores of the Quintana Roo state, with 135 mph (217 kph) winds before weakening as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico.
"We're most concerned about the marginalized Mayan population on the interior of the Yucatan peninsula, "says Bruce Campbell-Janz, CRWRC international relief project manager.
CRWRC provided food relief to the Mayan population in the Yucatan peninsula through connections of its sister agency, Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM) following 2002's Hurricane Isidore. CRWRC will again look to CRWM to form partnerships for providing assistance to those affected by Emily.
Though it is not expected that Emily will regain the intensity of her movement across the Yucatan, the storm still threatens northeastern Mexico and southern Texas with flood-inducing rains.
Emily rode into the region on the heels of Hurricane Dennis, which claimed more than three dozen lives in Cuba, Haiti and the Florida panhandle early last week. CRWRC-Disaster Response Services (DRS) has been reconstructing homes in the Pensacola area since the 2004 hurricane season, so is poised to provide relief to those affect by Dennis. DRS will continue to monitor the potential impact of Emily on south Texas.
To help those affected by this devastating and early hurricane season, please mark your donations, "Hurricanes 2005" and mail to: 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49560 or 3475 Mainway, PO Box 5070 STN LCD 1, Burlington, On, L7R 3Y8. Donations can also be made by calling 1-800-55-CRWRC (US) or 1-800-730-3490 (Canada) and online by clicking here.