When Disaster Strikes: Hurricane Barbara
July 11, 2013
Hurricane Barbara destroyed many buildings in Paredon
In the aftermath of the storm, the need for safe water was immediately apparent. “There is a truck which is bringing some safe water to the town for the affected people but it is not enough,” fisherman Arsenio Aguilar Hernandez explained in his request for safe water relief. “We usually go to collect the water, [but] the lines of people waiting for water are so long and most times we don’t get water. We are desperate.”
Arsenio Aquilar Hernandez explains the need for safe water
After hearing such pleas, Water Missions International Mexico sent a team to one of the most devastated communities, Paredon. The team set up a disaster response unit to provide the community with much needed safe water. As they worked with the people of Paredon, they learned about how Hurricane Barbara had impacted the community.
“We all are so upset,” one man told the team. “We haven’t experienced this before. The sea suddenly covered almost all our town and we just were running away without our stuff…We live from the fishing and now many of us don’t have our boats anymore, and the ones who still have theirs say that there are no fish in this area. We are living in a very difficult time.”
Many fishermen have lost their fishing boats, and with them their only way to earn a living.
Hurricanes have wreaked havoc on countries where Water Missions International staff work in the past. Last year, Hurricane Sandy devastated Haiti before it continued up the eastern seaboard to slam into the United States. WMI staff have braved flooding, washed out roads, and lawlessness to make sure that people can have access to clean, safe water when their community has been destroyed by a natural disaster. During hurricane season, our staff keep watchful eyes on the weather radars and prepare for any possibility when a storm forms.
We in the United States understand all too well the kind of devastation a hurricane can unleash on our homes and livelihood. A homeowner in New Jersey feels the loss a hurricane can bring just as keenly as a fisherman in Mexico and a farmer in Haiti, which is why Water Missions International works to respond as quickly as possible when a natural disaster strikes, wherever it may be.
In the case of the community of Paredon, Water Missions International was blessed to be able to provide safe water. Now community members like Arsenio Aguilar Hernandez can focus on rebuilding their lives instead of waiting for water that will not come.
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