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Sudden Destruction!—How Have They Coped?Awake!—1990 | February 22
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Coping With Hugo’s Destruction
On St. Croix, survivors of Hugo greeted one another with hugs of joy and relief, just happy to be alive. Soon massive relief efforts were underway, providing victims shelter and food. However, some sought to profit from the misfortune of victims. Profiteers charged exorbitant prices. For example, a bag of ice that ordinarily was 79 cents sold for $10. There was even looting. But generally such callous acts were overshadowed by many acts of human kindness and compassion. Particularly noteworthy were reports regarding the relief efforts of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Even before Hugo struck, Christian elders visited those living in less secure houses and urged them to move into more strongly built Kingdom Halls or into the safer houses of their Christian brothers. The Kingdom Hall in Summerville, South Carolina, had more than 50 persons staying in it overnight during the storm!
In Guadeloupe such preparations for the storm proved lifesaving. On that island alone, 117 houses of Witnesses were destroyed, while nearly 300 houses of other Witnesses were severely damaged. In addition, 8 Kingdom Halls were badly damaged, while 14 others were less severely damaged.
Although several Witnesses were injured, none were killed, either in Guadeloupe or anywhere else in the Caribbean. The grown son of one of the Witnesses, however, was killed when he was literally sucked up by the wind that suddenly blew the roof off the house.
Not until the third day after the storm were fellow Witnesses finally able to make telephone contact with their brothers in Guadeloupe. In the meantime, however, traveling overseers and branch office personnel on the island met to organize a survey of the needs of their brothers, that is, their fellow Witnesses.
Soon water, food, clothing, and other necessities were being generously donated by those less seriously affected. Water was available at the branch office, and it was heartwarming to see brothers bring in all available containers, fill them, and then distribute them to those in need. Witnesses in Martinique were among the first from other countries to respond to the needs of their brothers in Guadeloupe.
Since Guadeloupe is under French control, Jehovah’s Witnesses in France quickly airfreighted to the island heavy plastic sheeting, nylon rope, and plastic cans for water. Shortly, some 100 metric tons of building supplies were shipped to Guadeloupe and immediately distributed.
Right away, Witnesses in Puerto Rico also began organizing a relief program. By the weekend after the storm, hundreds from unaffected areas of the island were descending on devastated towns to help repair houses. Also, two boats loaded with food, materials, and about 40 Witnesses sailed over to the small island of Culebra. The radio station there was soon praising the rebuilding work being done. The following weekend 112 Witnesses, accompanied by six tons of building materials, sailed to the little island of Vieques for similar reconstruction work.
Not until Friday, five days after the storm, were brothers from Puerto Rico able to rent a cargo plane and take food and medicine to St. Croix. One of the brothers reports: “From the air the whole island looked like a garbage dump. Entire villages were smashed and twisted. All over the hills were pieces of wood, metal, and debris; nothing green, just brown stumps of trees and burned grass, seared by wind gusts of up to 200 miles per hour [320 km/hr].”
After ascertaining the extent of the damage, Witnesses shipped in some 75 tons of building supplies. During October, about a hundred volunteers from Puerto Rico helped the brothers on St. Croix rebuild. A Kingdom Hall served as a dormitory. Each day was begun with a discussion of a Bible text, just as is done at all branch offices of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Local Christian sisters washed, cleaned, and cooked for the brothers.
Sheila Williams had saved for years to build a new home, and she had just moved into it when Hugo destroyed it. When she heard that her Christian brothers were coming from Puerto Rico to help victims, she told her workmates. But they said: “They will not do anything for you. You are black, not Spanish like them.” What a surprise they received when Sheila soon had a completely new house!
A five-year-old in Michigan, U.S.A., having seen news reports of the devastation on St. Croix, wanted to help those who had lost their possessions. She asked her mother’s permission to give a dress to a little girl so that ‘she can look nice when she goes to the Kingdom Hall.’
“To my surprise,” the mother noted, “she selected one of her best dresses.” The dress was sent, and as you can see on page 18, a child on St. Croix is delighted to have it.
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Sudden Destruction!—How Have They Coped?Awake!—1990 | February 22
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[Pictures on page 18]
Left: A St. Croix child wearing dress sent by a five-year-old in Michigan who wanted to help
Below: Jehovah’s Witnesses in Guadeloupe sorting donated food
Lower left: Sheila Williams with relief worker who helped rebuild her house that was destroyed
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