CRS Marks the Fifth Anniversary of Hurricane Mitch

Catholic Relief Services
Wednesday, 29 October 2003

Five years ago this week, Hurricane Mitch struck Central America. The storm was one of the most powerful and destructive ever to strike the region, with an estimated 3.4 million people—more than 11 percent of the population—directly impacted. Honduras and Nicaragua were particularly hard hit, making up more than 70 percent of the total affected population. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) was one of the first agencies to respond and has been working since that time to help rebuild damaged communities.

Mitch began as a tropical storm off the coast of Costa Rica and gained strength and velocity as it moved toward Honduras, northern Nicaragua and El Salvador. For six days, Mitch battered Central America and dumped unprecedented amounts of rain. Ironically, the greatest destruction caused by Mitch occurred after it had weakened from its Category 5 status to a tropical storm and became stationary over the region.

"In terms of social and economic impact, the consequences of Hurricane Mitch will be felt by the governments and people of the region for years to come," noted Jed Hoffman, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. "We have accomplished much, but we've still got a lot of work to do—reconstruction is about more than just rebuilding houses, schools and bridges."

To date, CRS has provided almost $83 million in assistance and reached nearly five million people in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. CRS' immediate focus on emergency relief has gradually shifted to longer-term development, including programming for disaster mitigation, education, community health and job training and civil society work.

Reconstruction work involves local communities and includes rebuilding houses, hospitals, roads, bridges and schools. Additionally, CRS supports an ongoing partnership between people in 14 dioceses in Texas and the people of Honduras. Born as a response to Mitch, the Texas-Honduras partnership has grown over the past five years and has brought the two communities closer together, serving as a bridge between Catholics in Texas and Honduras.

Catholic Relief Services is marking its 60th year as the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. The agency provides assistance to people in more than 90 countries and territories on the basis of need, not race, creed or nationality.

For more information, or to contact Catholic Relief Services, see their website at: www.catholicrelief.org