- - - - -   PUERTO CABEZAS UPDATE   - - - - -

SEPT. 11, 2007

In a message dated 9/11/2007 5:00:31 PM US Eastern Standard Time, CCampb667 writes:

Puerto Cabezas Report September 10-11, 2007  

Summary

There are many homes destroyed or damaged. The actual death toll is still being counted.  There was no sign that all the major relief being promised has begun to arrive in the city of Puerto Cabezas. When, how much and who will be the recipients of this massive assistance is yet to be determined. Three houses of active church members were decimated or completely destroyed. All three families have 6 children each. Many of the extended families of church members were homeless, some had died. Half of the church roof had been completely torn away.

Action Taken

We bought provisions for 30 families that will last for two weeks: rice, beans, sugar, salt, soap, laundry detergent, cooking oil, and definitely candles to be distributed by the church to the heads of these 30 families. Hopefully some of the major relief promised will arrive by then. With regards to the church, materials were purchased and an agreement was made for Rigoberto to replace the entire roof. All usable tin and wood removed from the church will be used to provisionally repair the house where Nubia lived.

Trip

We landed in a light misty rain and were greeted at the airport by Pastor Antonio, his aunt, and church leader, Victoria who was accompanied by one of her grandchildren. We all crammed into a small taxi to go to the Hotel Viajante.  There were tree limbs and tree trunks lining both sides of the street making streets even more narrow than usual. These trees had fallen in mass during Hurricane Felix and had been cut up and stacked in the streets waiting to be removed. Most houses by the ocean still had their roof intact but many showed serious damage.

When we arrived at the hotel, they had one room with two beds available. We took it. When we went to the small courtyard, the tree that had been there just one month ago had been totally uprooted, causing damage to the hotel.   We walked to the church, noting the many houses and business buildings that had been damaged. When we walked past the park, all of the trees there were lying on their side and covered the ground throughout the little park.

Upon arriving at the church, we were greeted by many of the friends that we had made just one month earlier. Each person looked for their turn to share their story about their experience with Hurricane Felix. Their words communicated the trauma and the fear that they had been through. The tone in their voices and the look in their eyes communicated a non-verbal shudder that resonated from person to person.

Three of the houses surrounding the church stood firm but the little house directly behind the church where Roberto and Nubia lived with their six children had been destroyed. They all now are staying with her mother where the conditions are overcrowded and difficult. Nubia immediately asked us to restore the house where she had been living even though it is owned by her uncle. She and the 6 kids need a place to live.

Pastor Antonio’s house beneath the church had been water-soaked and his mattresses had not dried out. The floors were also moist. The whole place seemed dank and smelled of mildew which is not abnormal during the rainy season, but the smell of our fresh paint had completely disappeared. I am not sure what can be done at this time.

At 3:30 AM on the Monday morning before Felix hit, the officials had come and evacuated Justo Antonio and his family to the Mormon church building. The building withstood the storm, but it did not appear any sturdier than Antonio’s church. During the hurricane, Antonio and wife feared for their lives and for their children.

Each one shared how none of them had received any relief from any of the relief organizations or the government. There was no evidence anywhere that any relief had arrived for families struck by Felix. The TV and newspapers keep reporting about all the relief that is on its way, but 8 days after Felix, it has not arrived in the City of Puerto Cabezas. I was told that relief has begun in the interior which was struck the hardest.

A multitude of churches in Managua are collecting clothing to be sent, but none of it has arrived yet. I am wondering how it will arrive. Because it is the rainy season, and because Felix just passed through, the roads are hazardous to pass. Belcer says that the big trucks will be able to get through. Assistance can come by airplane but I did not see or hear any cargo planes arriving. Nor did I hear of any plans to bring relief by boat. When resources will arrive, how much it will be, what type of assistance, and who will be the recipients is yet to be determined. In the meantime there is a sense of “not so quiet desperation” and fear from each person that they will be bypassed.

There were two women sitting at a table behind the church conducting a census, gathering information on peoples needs. When I asked who they were, I was told that these two women were from the government, but those around also commented, "All talk and promises, but they have not done anything". I saw it as a necessary step being taken and as a positive part of the process of rebuilding.

The winds of the storm had come from the interior rather than off the ocean. This caused more damage to the parts of the city that were inland. We went past the Verbo Church and the Oasis Restaurant where our group had eaten dinner in August. The roof of Verbo Church has been completely torn away and the roof of the restaurant is twisted but still on top of the building. We visited where Rigoberto’s and Chanda’s house (married members of the church with six children) used to stand. It has been totally leveled to the ground along with two of his brothers’ houses.  A fourth house of this extended family still stands and 28 people are now staying in a 10x12 feet structure. I am certain that this type of arrangement of families taking care of one another until relief arrives is happening throughout the Atlantic Coast.

As far as building materials, shortages have already begun and prices are going up. Four different church members separately commented, “Candles now cost 4 cordabas when they were only two.” This has a direct affect on each of them since they depend on candles for light when there is no electricity. One of the affects of Felix is that many electric lines are down, many because of the trees falling on them. So, even when electricity is on, there is no current flowing to their homes. They feel the pain of even the 10 cent difference in the cost of the candles that they need for light.

Belcer and the men determined the materials and calculated the cost of repairing and restoring the church.  Belcer sees the church as a refuge where people can gather and be together and that will give hope to many families. We began the search for tin and had to go to four different hardware stores to find what was needed. The lumber yard received a shipment of lumber while we were there or they would not have been able to provide all of the wood that was needed.

One of the foundations of the economy for Puerto Cabezas is fishing. The government has declared a quarantine on all fishing off the coast because of the contamination of many bodies flowing into the ocean from the rivers. They are still finding dead bodies coming from the interior where there is very little access.  One of the reasons for many of these deaths, according to the folks we talked with, is that people did not believe the TV and the radio nor did they believe it would be so powerful. There have been many warnings of hurricanes over the years that did not do damage and they had lived through Mitch. Mitch had brought strong winds but it was not a direct hit on the city and inland, so most of its damage was from flooding. None of the people that I spoke with had imagined the destructiveness of ferocious winds that they survived.

On my second day, Tuesday September 11th, shortly before 5 AM on there was a loud thunder storm. I lay there imagining what life was like for those with no roof or inadequate housing. It is the rainy season and each day brings more rain. This will hamper all relief efforts including repairs once the relief arrives.

Pastor Antonio identified 1 house to be repaired (Nubia) and 4 houses that need to be rebuilt, including his Grandmother's where he had grown up as a child. These included Rigoberto and Chandra, but the two houses of Rigoberto’s brothers would be additional. The television and newspapers say there will be resources to help rebuild homes, but at this time we do not know which homes.

I do not know if we should wait to see if they receive resources or ask for funds to move ahead. If these families are not included in the reconstruction, I would certainly hope that donations will be given for the reconstruction of their houses. Each house is estimated to cost about $3,000 which seems underestimated to me.  I have recommended to Belcer that he make a return trip in a couple of weeks to follow up on these houses and the church. I have given him the $150 for plane fare and he plans on returning.

Just returning from Puerto Cabezas,   Cecil