American Red Cross – Online Disaster News Portal

Gavin White is an American Red Cross disaster management delegate based out of Mexico City. He recently accompanied the Mexican Red Cross on a trip to provide relief to those impacted by Hurricane Jimena.

Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, was hit hard by the passage of Hurricane Jimena in September. Thousands of homes had their roofs torn off, while many others suffered from the sudden formation of rivers in this otherwise semi-desert town.

On a warm Tuesday afternoon, Red Cross needs assessment teams set out to identify those families still in need, knocking on doors to discuss with the residents of the poorer parts of town as to how their recovery efforts are going. The local government has been able to provide galvanized zinc sheeting to many of the affected families, but a surprising number of homes remain in bad shape.

As shown above, Mr. José Luis Muñoz explained to the team of assessors how he had to leave his home when the hurricane hit, fleeing with his family to stay with relatives. He has only been able to return now, and is starting to rebuild what is left of his home. He enthusiastically welcomed the Red Cross’s offer to provide him with roofing material, tools, mosquito nets, a kitchen set and home cleaning tools. As with all the other families in need, he was awarded a bracelet, to be exchange the next day for his recovery kit.

The distribution took place at 3 p.m. in the Santa Rosalia Yacht Club, graciously made available to the Red Cross, and by 2:30 several hundred people had gathered outside the center. By 9 p.m., over 900 families whose homes were battered by the winds and rains of Jimena had received a recovery kit to help them start anew.

The distribution that Gavin describes represents one small part of the local response efforts.
In Baja California Sur, the Mexican Red Cross has worked to provide relief to thousands of people:

• Kitchen sets (1,500 families)
• Roofing supplies (1,500 families)
• Hygiene kits (1,500 families)
• House cleaning kits (1,500 families)
• Mosquito nets (1,500 families)

In Sonora, the Mexican Red Cross also distributed supplies where needed:

• Roofing supplies (750 families)
• Kitchen sets (1,500 families)
• Hygiene kits (1,500 families)

With the assistance of an OFDA grant, the American Red Cross provided 7,800 relief items to the Mexican Red Cross, including hygiene kits, kitchen sets and reconstruction kits, for distribution to those most affected by the storm.