SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, Oct. 9, 2017— Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization, deployed teams of disaster respo nse specialists to the Caribbean in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Maria. Now approximately 60 team members continue to distribute food, emergency shelter materials, clean water, hygiene kits and solar lights to families in need. Medical personnel are also supporting the local hospital in Dominica.
Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham was on the ground in Puerto Rico last week to assess the damage, meet with local pastors and encourage residents as they begin to recover from the storm.
"These hurricanes destroyed everything in their path and left thousands desperate for help," Graham said. "We are putting relief supplies—heavy-duty tarp, hygiene kits, solar lights and food—in the hands of families in need. We want to remind people who are suffering that God loves them by meeting their needs for emergency shelter and other critical supplies. We will be working in the Caribbean for months to come."
Already, the organization's DC-8 cargo jet has made 17 round trips from North Carolina to the Caribbean, airlifting more than 395 tons of emergency relief supplies and key staff. More cargo flights are scheduled in the coming days. The Samaritan's Purse helicopter arrived in Puerto Rico last weekend. Using this resource, disaster response specialists have delivered food parcels to isolated, mountainous communities and continue to canvas areas inaccessible by road.
In addition to distributing relief supplies, the North Carolina-based organization has established nine clean water points throughout the Caribbean and is working to identify additional locations. Many of these are reverse osmosis systems that convert sea water to fresh water. Each unit provides an ongoing source of clean water, which is a desperate need throughout the region.
MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES Interview disaster response specialists on the ground in Puerto Rico by phone or Skype Visit to Samaritan's Purse work sites in Puerto Rico where disaster response specialists aredistributing relief supplies Downloadable, broadcast-quality b-roll of Caribbean hurricane relief work High-res, downloadable photos of Caribbean hurricane relief workSamaritan's Purse has helped more than 23,000 families in the Caribbean since Hurricane Irma. Disaster response specialists provided emergency relief in Turks and Caicos, and St. Maarten after Hurricane Irma and continue to respond in Puerto Rico, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. For more information about how to help, go to samaritanspurse.org.
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