Hurricane Tomas

The passage below is from a friend of mine and his intern.  You probably didn't even realize that the hurricane (Tomas) that was so feared by Haiti actually had a devastating effect on Costa Rica.  For some reason it hasn't hit the news.  But the people there are suffering.   Here's the intern's report: Over a thousand people in the capital and along the Pacific coast were evacuated to shelters to escape the flooding last week. Officials would have declared a national state of emergency if the heavy rain storms that had been forecast would have continued any longer. At one point, President Laura Chinchilla solicited help from neighboring countries for emergency relief aid. Emergency workers were sent in to search for approximately 30 people who were declared missing in the shanty dwellings of the suburb of San Antonio de Escazu. Twenty ended up being found dead. The mudslide followed two days of heavy rains that also flooded a local river in the area, namely the one where the community we work with lives. According to Costa Rica's Meteorological Institute, the region received 6.3 inches (161 millimeters) of rain in only two hours Wednesday. Reports stated that rains also damaged a dam in Parrita, near the country's western coast. Engineers had trouble reaching the area because of road damage and bad weather. Because of the danger of continued flooding in the area, as well as the already shaky nature of the hill where many houses were tacked together, the municipality decided to evacuate the majority of the houses in the Quebrada. There are approximately 3500 people in Anonos, which is divided into several smaller regions/neighborhoods. The Quebrada is the neighborhood along the river on the city of Escazu side of the river. The municipality moved some where between 300-500 people out of the Quebrada. But the people were not only evacuated, they were told they had a day to move all of their belongings out of their houses because they would be torn down. The area is no longer safe to live in. After the original decision to move people from the Quebrada, officials came in and marked houses which were to be torn down. Additional inspections showed further danger of mudslides in the neighborhood higher up the hill called the Mangoes. Houses were also marked up there to be torn down.   And here's my friend's report summarizing the aftermath.  The houses that were marked to be torn down are being ripped apart to salvage anything they can to rebuild somewhere else, but many were vandalized to sell the scrap metal.   How do you put into words the exodus of about 300 people from Los Anonos? After hearing the sounds of metal all morning. I took a walk down to the Quebrada today to see our ladies, who a part of our church. Their homes were half torn down. This is the noise that we hear all day. We stood and watched the metal walls folding as they were being dismantled. We witnessed others walking down the road with refrigerators, toilets and all of their household belongings. We saw drug addicts scavenging for metal, as well. They are getting all that they can, so that they can buy crack. The metal recyclers are having a heyday. There is a lot of greed that is coming out. Trucks are taking advantage of people, because they have only one day to leave before the bulldozers come in to raze the houses. The people who lost their homes are being housed in “albergues” or shelters. I went into the sleeping area of the shelter where our ladies and their families are staying. There were about 50 mattresses spread out in one big room. There were people in other rooms. It really is a good place, an evangelical church, and the people are being fed good meals and being taken care of medically, as well. The sadness can be seen in the faces of the people, many of whom have lived here all of their lives. A man jumped off of the Anonos Bridge this morning. That sort of sums up the desperation of some of the people today, as they watch their houses being taken apart, piece by piece, per order of the government. They have no idea as to where they are going to live. The municipality has given them the equivalent of one month’s rent to pay for a house or an apartment that they will probably find in another barrio like Los Anonos. This part of the letter is being written a few days later. More of Los Anonos is coming down. We have heard rumors that the rest of the people on the hill will have to move. That will leave the main road going up the hill from the kindergarten and the top road in Los Mangos. Many of you understand where these are. We also heard that the footbridge is going to be removed, because of safety reasons. About 25-30 people from our new Vina Anonos have moved. These people do not know where they are going, nor do they know when. They are being moved from the shelter that they are in to another, most likely today. The ones who are Nicaraguans, who have no papers, will be moved back to Nicaragua. What happens now?? This is where we need your prayers. Pray that: The people of Los Anonos will find new homes quickly. Justice will reign. That these people will get financial help from the government. God will strengthen them during this hard time, emotionally, physically and spiritually. That they will find peace in the midst of the storm. God will protect those people who are working at tearing down their homes. God will unify the people during this time. Right now it is “every man for himself.” God will show us the best way to help those people who are a part of our church here. God will show us the best way to help others. God will show us the next steps to building our new church. I know that all of this seems very negative, but there is a “flip side of the tortilla”, however. Most important and first and foremost is that God is in control. He has plans for these people. They will live in a safer place. They will grow to know him more if they keep their eyes fixed on Him.   Please keep these people in your prayers!