Pictured: Damage from Cyclone Hudhud, a storm with 109 mph winds that hit eastern India in October. Photo credit: Lutheran World Service India Trust.
From Oct. 7 – 14, 2014, Cyclone Hudhud caused extensive damage to India and claimed lives. With 109 mph winds, the cyclone affected 320 villages in India. More than 41,530 homes and 40,000 electric poles were damaged, while more than 1,800 cattle were reported dead and about 205,000 hectares of crop land were destroyed.
Working with Lutheran World Service India Trust (LWSIT), Lutheran Disaster Response has provided $80,000 to assist in the continued relief and long-term livelihood recovery for 1,000 families in Wisakhapatnum and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh as they address their immediate needs and begin the process of rebuilding.
Relief assistance will be in the forms of food, non-food items, such as tarpaulin sheets for damaged homes, and water and hygiene materials. Long-term recovery will focus on agricultural livelihood restoration and will include rice seed distribution to share croppers so that they will be able to resume planting once the current season is over. We will also assist 300 women supplement their food supply by providing vegetable seeds to them so they are able to grow food at home and meet nutritional needs for their children.
Lutheran Disaster Response will also work with LWSIT to assist 100 families whose homes were hit hardest by providing materials for them to rebuild.
“Cyclones are an unfortunate regular occurrence, especially in eastern India. Between the furies of some of these cyclones, the affect they have on large swaths of populations and their livelihoods, and the impact on people living in poverty, disasters are an ongoing companion to millions of people in India,” says Franklin Ishida, ELCA Global Mission area program director for Asia and Pacific. “In recent years, the Indian government has done much to mitigate the effect of
such disasters. But the destructive forces of a cyclone like Hudhud are at times unimaginable. The ELCA is blessed to have a companion in India, Lutheran World Service India Trust, who is able to work with those affected by Hudhud and through whom critical relief needs are met.”
Lutheran Disaster Response is committed to working with our trusted partner, LWSIT to walk with our brothers and sisters who were impacted by Hudhud. We pray for their recovery and for their continued safety in living in an area prone to natural disasters. If you would like to support Lutheran Disaster Response’s work in India, please visit the Lutheran Disaster Response giving page.
