Help Provide Relief After Hurricane Dorian
Response in Bahamas Transitions to Repairs, Trauma Support, Disaster Response Training
Samaritan’s Purse is launching several additional projects in the Bahamas to help families rebound from Hurricane Dorian. We also continue to remove mammoth amounts of storm debris.
The projects will include church and home repairs, trauma healing support groups, and training local church leaders in disaster preparedness, mitigation, and response through the Hazard Outreach and Preparedness Empowerment (HOPE) program.
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Samaritan’s Purse is launching the Hazard Outreach and Preparedness Empowerment (HOPE) program through local churches in the Bahamas to further equip them to help hurting communities in the aftermath of disasters.
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In partnership with local churches, we are planning to repair homes for a number of people in need after their houses were damaged by Hurricane Dorian.
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In addition to partnering with local churches to help repair a number of homes in their communities, Samaritan’s Purse is helping to repair several churches damaged by Hurricane Dorian.
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We are training several churches in the Bahamas to offer trauma support groups to help hurting homeowners recover from the emotional toll that disasters can bring.
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To help Bahamian communities recover from Hurricane Dorian, Samaritan’s Purse is clearing away tens of thousands of cubic yards of storm debris.
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Continue to pray for church leaders in the Bahamas that are reaching out to help their communities in need while recovering from the storm themselves.
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Samaritan’s Purse and ministry partners distributed a total of 16,746 tarps on Grand Bahama and The Abacos so residents could help protect their hurricane-damaged roofs from rainwater.
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Samaritan’s Purse volunteers clean up storm debris and tarp the roof of a lighthouse keeper in Elbow Cay, Bahamas.
Whether providing physical shelter, emotional support, or preparedness training, these projects are focused on sharing the hope found in Jesus Christ alone. In partnership with area churches, Samaritan’s Purse projects staff based in the Bahamas will coordinate the home and church repairs and train local church volunteers in disaster response, such as how to lead the trauma healing groups.
LONG-TERM PREPAREDNESS
"We want to position churches to be able to help their communities recover from disasters long-term," said Kendell Kauffeldt, Samaritan’s Purse regional director for the Caribbean. Local pastors are helping to identify families in need of home repairs and emotional support as residents continue to heal from grief and loss.
The HOPE program also will equip church leaders how to provide relief to hurting communities in any future disasters—whether it be an individual house fire or a widespread hurricane—through interactive training sessions. HOPE training was offered to church leaders in Dominica as a result of Hurricane Maria.
Since Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas this past September, Samaritan’s Purse has been providing emergency assistance on Grand Bahama and The Abacos, including Man-O-War Cay, Elbow Cay, and Grand Guana Cay. We have transported and distributed over 360 metric tons of relief supplies, provided over 1 million liters of clean water, and cleared away more than 13,000 cubic yards of storm debris.
With the help of local ministry partners, we distributed emergency relief supplies immediately after Hurricane Dorian, including:
- •16,746 tarps
- •12,483 blankets
- •7,385 hygiene kits
- •6,695 solar lights
- •5,414 kitchen kits
- •3,878 jerry cans
- •949 generators
In addition, volunteers from our North American Ministries team covered 558 houses and community buildings with tarp.
At the request of the World Health Organization and Bahamas government in early September, we airlifted our Emergency Field Hospital to Freeport since Rand Memorial Hospital there was damaged by the hurricane. During the two months that medical professionals on our Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) operated the field hospital, we treated 7,747 patients and conducted 130 surgeries. In November, we handed over operation of the facility to Rand hospital and will provide support services as needed there through March.
