The Dominican is reeling from the past few days of rain and flooding. The death toll is almost 100 and it may be awhile until the water subsides before they can make a more accurate count.  We have devised a plan to go to the south on Monday and hold some mobile clinics.  This will only be drop in the bucket as we don’t have the resources to make a major impact in the worst areas.   We’ll also evaluate how we can possibly bring teams to these areas to do house construction for those whose houses were washed away.

Heres a clip from today from  www.dr1.com

  Death toll keeps rising

The ninth bulletin from the National Emergency Committee indicates that 56 people have died as a result of Noel, 27 are missing and a total of 58,328 people have been displaced. Of these displaced 17,895 have found refuge in government facilities while 40,433 are staying with families and friends. Also, 13,921 homes have been ruined, 52 communities are cut off, 21 bridges and roads have collapsed and 682 people have been rescued. General Manuel Antonio Luna Paulino says that 85% of the people who live below sea level have been moved and relocated. Luna has made a public appeal to boat-owners to help in rescue efforts in the lower Yuna river basin. He added that this area is completely flooded and that water levels are still rising. He said that anyone who is willing to help should contact the military commander in San Francisco de Macoris so they can be given the appropriate information. Aguacate and Arenoso are among the worst affected communities in the lower Yuna river basin area. Luna says that this is one of the worst cases of flooding seen in the DR in the last 40 years.

This is going to take a long time to recover from this Katrina-like disaster.  Pray for this island (including Haiti) that people’s hearts will turn to God for strength and healing.