Thursday 24 June 2010
Response team leaving for flood struck Brazil
The states of Alagoas and Pernambuco are the two worst affected areas.
Days of torrential downpours, raging flood waters and whole towns ‘wiped off’ the map. These are the reports from north eastern Brazil where up to 100,000 people are feared to have lost their homes.
The state of Alagoas has been the worst affected. The River Mundau burst its banks in the town of Uniao dos Palmares and the town of Quebrangulo was nearly completely submerged in flood waters.
On Wednesday, June 23 a two-person ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) was mobilised and will arrive in Recife, Brazil on Friday afternoon. SRT members Pat Prendergast (UK) and Phil Duloy (UK) are heading up the initial response.
Phil had just returned to the UK from Haiti and was at the airport when he received the call asking him to fly to South America. He will have a 48 hour turn around before heading off again.
‘I’m really looking forward to getting out there and cracking on with the job,’ he said. ‘You can see from the pictures on the TV just how clear the need is.
‘This deployment will be just as challenging as my time in Haiti but the objective is the same; get emergency shelter to families most in need as quickly as we can.’
Rotarian support
The team will be working with Brazilian Rotarian and ShelterBox supporter Conrado Orsatti who they will meet when they arrive in the country.
The three of them will be doing everything in their power to establish where ShelterBox is most needed and to clear the logistical pathway for aid to arrive.
ShelterBox Head of Operations, John Leach, said: ‘Historically, it’s been incredibly difficult for ShelterBox to get aid into Brazil even when there has been a clear need.
‘There is a definite need in Brazil right now and we’ll be doing everything within our power, both here in the UK and with our Rotary contacts in Brazil, to clear the red tape and get emergency shelter to families in desperate need.’
This area of Brazil is prone to flooding and in May last year floods of a similar magnitude displaced an estimated 380,000 people.
The below video is from ITN News and shows the extent of the flood damage:
