At least one member was killed when Hurricane Georges whipped through the Caribbean Sept. 21-22, ravaging Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, said Lyle Cooper, regional welfare agent for the Church.
Many members are still unaccounted for, but reports of Sept. 30, indicate that one member, a child of a branch president, in the Dominican Republic was killed by the hurricane that claimed the lives of more than 300 people and rendered thousands more homeless.All 715 missionaries serving in the four missions covering the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico are safe, reported the mission presidents.
Hurricane Georges traversed the middle of Puerto Rico, then hit the eastern side of the Dominican Republic and moved west along the coastline, before veering northward across the mountains, into the Florida Keys, across the Gulf of Mexico before striking the U.S. mainland.
"Many Church buildings in the Dominican Republic were damaged," said Brother Cooper, including damage to rooftops of four meetinghouses. "One was totally destroyed. But the temple [under construction in Santo Domingo] was not harmed."
"We were alerted of the hurricane from cable television weather reports and prepared an emergency plan," said Pres. E. Marshall McCoy of the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East Mission. "Missionaries were directed to stockpile a week's worth of food and water.
"When the hurricane hit," Pres. McCoy continued, "we watched as a tree across the street with a 3-foot thick trunk was snapped by the wind like a toothpick. It's discouraging. This beautiful island was stripped of its green. Now the area is all brown. The trees that are still standing look like sticks in the ground."
From reports supplied by missionaries, Pres. McCoy estimated that 107 families, or about half of the families, in the two districts on the eastern side of the mission were left homeless after the hurricane either destroyed their homes or tore off roofs.
In the neighboring Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West Mission, Pres. David R. Stone estimated that 300 members in the San Juan area needed assistance.
"Destruction and desolation in San Juan is incalculable," he said.
Since many areas are remote and inaccessible because of fallen power lines and tree-strewn streets, the mission presidents have relied on early reports from missionaries to assess damage.
"The sterling work of the missionaries in organizing relief efforts, locating members, helping clean out the mud and muck from houses, comforting the bereaved and tending to the injured through the long night was remarkable," said Pres. Stone.
Following the disaster, the government in San Juan took control of gasoline supplies for civil and military use. "It is a measure of the recognition our missionaries have received that the governor personally approved the sale of gasoline to our missionaries [for use in the mission truck]," said Pres. Stone.
On the day the hurricane hit, two missionaries living in the Mesopotamia Valley decided to move to higher ground and spend the night with zone leaders.
That night, when rains accompanying the hurricane drenched the area with 20 inches of water, civil authorities opened flood gates to relieve pressure on a dam upstream without giving notice to residents downstream. The surge of water destroyed all homes in the valley, including the home where the missionaries would have been.
Later that night, at 2 a.m., another set of missionaries was watching the rain when they felt a strong impression to drive down into the valley to retrieve members who had gathered in the Mesopotamia chapel for refuge. Accompanied by one of the zone leaders, the three drove a mission pickup truck to the chapel. When they crossed a particular bridge, they noticed the river was rising quickly.
About 15 minutes later, in the midst of the torrential rains and strong winds, they helped evacuate nearly 30 members and non-members.
But by their return, water had risen nearly 3 feet over the bridge. Crossing carefully, they forded the river shortly before the bridge collapsed. The next morning the meetinghouse was found filled with water and mud, while all homes in the area had been destroyed.
"Their sensitivity to the promptings of the Spirit, and their act of personal heroism, saved the lives of 30 or more people," said Pres. Stone.
Only a relatively small area of the Dominican Republic Santiago Mission was affected by the hurricane. Members in the districts within the mission, despite their circumstances, gathered food and clothing to fill 50 boxes for the many homeless members.
"There is a lot of sacrificing going on," said Elder Michael Smith.
Puerto Rico generally fared better than the Dominican Republic, said Brother Cooper, but the U.S. territory still suffered extensive damage due mainly to fallen trees that caused loss of power and impassable streets.
"A newly baptized family lost their home in the storm," said Pres. Dean Davies, president of the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission, "leaving only the concrete floor."
The day after the storm, as members and missionaries combed the area retrieving a few scattered possessions, the father of the family told one of the missionaries that their newfound faith gave them strength to endure such a tragedy, where two months earlier they would have been emotionally distraught.
Relief efforts in the two countries is being coordinated by the local regional welfare committees comprised of stake presidents, stake Relief Society presidents and the agent welfare bishop, explained Brother Cooper.
The welfare committees have been evaluating member needs since the storm and have already gathered 250 boxes of food, including beans, rice and cooking oil, from local members. The committees have also requested tents, medicines, chain saws, camp stoves and tarps from the Church.
"The Red Cross said Church members were the only ones they could trust and asked to work with the Church to distribute supplies," Brother Cooper said.
Each of the four mission presidents in the two countries has many incidents to relate how Hurricane Georges has opened doors to the Church and softened opinions about missionaries.
"In Yamasa, a small town in the foothills north of the capital in the Dominican Republic," said Pres. McCoy, "missionaries have been working to become accepted. Since the storm, as the four missionaries have worked tirelessly to replace many corrugated metal roofs, attitudes have changed and favorable impressions have been made."
"A woman called me the other day," said Pres. Davies in Puerto Rico, "who didn't belong to the Church but wanted to make a donation after watching the efforts of missionaries as they served others following the devastation.
"It's been a terrific opportunity to give service."
