In the Eye of the Storm

Few countries have been consistently more devastated by natural disasters than Nicaragua. In August and September last year the world watched as Hurricane Dean and Hurricane Felix swung menacingly through the Caribbean towards Central America.

I was visiting partner organisations in Nicaragua at the time and we watched the news reports anxiously, bracing ourselves for the worst.

SCIAF’s partner in Nicaragua, Juan XXIII, has years of experience responding to the many disasters that have afflicted the people of Nicaragua. They know from experience the devastation caused by catastrophic monster storms. The ferocity of 190 mph winds is almost impossible to imagine. Houses are lifted into the air and smashed, leaving a trail of destruction as they are blown through villages. Crops are flattened and livestock vanish. Mud slides can swamp villages and flash floods can be so sudden that communities are unable to flee in time. The death toll following Hurricane Mitch in 1998 was over 3,000 and over 870,000 people’s livelihoods were damaged. Survivors are immediately at risk from hunger, exposure, contaminated water and disease.

I visited a number of communities receiving long term support from Juan XXIII. One of these, Dulce Nombre de Jesus, received money from SCIAF to rebuild homes and livelihoods following Hurricane Mitch. This included training to improve agricultural production and support to families and teachers to ensure that children were able to attend school. SCIAF’s involvement also helps to strengthen community organisations so they can lobby the local government directly for infrastructure, education and health services improvements. The recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Mitch is taking a long time but it was wonderful to see 17 new houses being opened for families in the village.

Hurricanes Dean and Felix changed course and did not wreak the devastation that was feared in the populated parts of the country. However, Hurricane Felix made landfall on the northern coast of Nicaragua causing devastation to the livelihoods of the indigenous Miskito people, one of the most impoverished and isolated communities in Latin America. The winds flattened homes and further devastation came with flooding as the Atlantic swept inland and rivers burst their banks.

SCIAF responded by supporting its partner in the area, CANTERA, to provide immediate practical, nutritional and medical assistance to survivors. Twenty-five households have been provided with roofing materials and 100 families were given food packages. A medical team traveled by boat to four communities in the Lower Coco River to administer first aid and attend to serious injuries.

In the aftermath of a hurricane, after the grieving, putting up survival shelters, and the replanting of crops, people begin to rebuild their lives. The people of Nicaragua are true survivors, suffering generations of social injustice and poverty, a series of natural disasters and a long period of violent civil strife. The frequency of hurricanes and tropical storms is increasing, possibly as a result of climate change, and these communities will need to be supported in preparing for, and responding to, the storms that will undoubtedly visit them again.

December 2007