Hurricane Melissa
Following the recent devastating Hurricane Melissa the Rotary Club of Reading agreed to help provide some emergency relief to the rural for the community of Sao Arriba in Holguin, Cuba. As you can see from the attached map showing the path taken by the hurricane through Cuba on Wednesday 29th October, Sao Arriba lies in one of the worst hit inland areas of the island.
Initially there was no news from the area as power and communications had been cut. From a GP in the provincial city of Holguin 20-odd miles to the west, we know how badly that city has have been hit and there are plenty of ‘Holguin’ video clips doing the rounds on Facebook, but Sao Arriba and most of the surrounding rural areas were essentially cut off.
Local reps in Holguin have been acquiring food and sanitary supplies to prepare a ‘first run’ of 100+ emergency relief supply parcels for families facing hardship as a result of Hurricane Melissa. The immediate focus is on families in low-lying areas to the south of the city where there has been severe flooding and storm damage. The cost in Sterling of the sums spent locally to date is c£1,750. Our reps in Holguin (Dr Rosel Torres and Reynold Teruel) are currently at the stage of packing & distributing the relief parcels.
Our ‘phase 1’ aim would be to increase the number of emergency relief parcels to 300 parcels for which we already have sufficient funding pledged.
Looking ahead, a phase 2 will involve expanding the scope of the project to aid the reconstruction effort at a village/community level. That will require further thought, local research and planning but we have in mind identifying one or more schools or community buildings in flood-affected areas which would benefit from Rotary support.
Additional Rotary funds could be allocated to phase 1 or phase 2 as Club approves.
A number of individual member donations, totalling £1,244, had been received. Members and others can still contribute via the Benevolent Fund Account. The club has agreed a significant contribution too.
December 2025 Update...
LETTER OF THANKS – HURRICANE MELISSA – ROTARY CLUB OF MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA
Thank you for your message and for your generosity. Please extend my appreciation to the Reading Rotary Club as well; the additional £1000 contribution will make a real difference for those affected by Melissa. We’ll look out for the credit over the coming weeks.
Your support means a great deal to us and to the communities we’re trying to help.
Wishing you a very happy Christmas, and thank you again for standing with us in this work.
Warm regards,
Antoinette
Antoinette