Hawaii helps out victims
By Lori Tighe
of Hurricane Mitch
Star-BulletinHurricane Mitch forced some people in Honduras to live on their rooftops because they heard of neighbors eaten alive by crocodiles cruising the flooded streets.
The hurricane that hit last week killed 9,000 people in Central America from floods and mudslides, and another 11,000 are missing in Honduras alone.
As soon as he saw the devastation on television in Hawaii, Austin Parsons, a 27-year-old Army sergeant at Fort Shafter, called the Red Cross Hawaii chapter and asked how he could help.
Volunteers like Parsons have helped raise $14,000 for the relief effort so far, said Lonnie Kirby, field service manager for Hawaii's Red Cross.
"It can almost bring tears to your eyes. It's been an overwhelming response," Kirby said. "I think some in Hawaii identify with the isolation those in Central America are feeling in this incredible crisis."
Parsons, whose mother's and wife's families live in Honduras, said he called his aunts, uncles and cousins who live there and found all had lost their homes and businesses. They escaped death, however.
"I had five cousins missing, but they turned up alive. A friend here was not so lucky. They lost a grandmother and an aunt," Parsons said.
Honduras, the poorest country in Central America, suffered the worst devastation, Parsons said. Of its 6 million people, 2 million have been displaced. One million are living in shelters and another million live in make-shift tents on the side of roads, he said.
Authorities in the Central American region have called Hurricane Mitch the worst storm of the century.
The people of Honduras were not prepared for the hurricane because weather officials predicted it would hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
But Hurricane Mitch turned and plowed across several Central American countries including El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras.
Javier Garcia, an Army man also stationed here, said his wife, Walleska "cries every time she sees the news and her country turned upside down."
Garcia, 31, met and married his wife while stationed in Honduras. More than 250 people came to their wedding and "90 percent were her family," Garcia said.
"We're doing pretty good. In two days we raised $1,200. Every penny counts," Garcia said.
The real tragedy is the limited food supply, Parsons said. People have to walk as far as six miles and wait for four hours for one three-pound chicken, one pound of beef and one pound of rice.
People all over Hawaii have called offering to give food and clothes, but the countries aren't set up yet to handle the shipments, Kirby said.
"The best way people can help is through cash donations."
To make financial donations for victims of Hurricane Mitch: Helping out
Mail: To International Response Fund, ARC-Hawaii State Chapter, 4155 Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, HI 96816.
