Central America: Drought causes concerns for food security and livelihoods
Cattle have died and crops have been completely diminished in a drought across Central America that is recorded as the region’s worst dry period in the last 30 years. The drought has impacted more than 2.5 million people across the...
Unaccompanied and Migrant Children: DC Metro Synod visits companions in El Salvador
Megan Brandsrud While news of children and families migrating to the U.S. from Central America may have slipped from national headlines, Lutheran Disaster Response is still at work providing education on the situation and assisting our partners and affiliates...
Nigeria: Emergency assistance for people fleeing as attacks continue
Megan Brandsrud Nigerians are fleeing amidst continued attacks that are believed to be the actions of Boko Haram. On Nov. 10, 2014, there was a massacre of 48 people near the territory of the Lutheran Church of Christ in...
Illinois: One year after the November tornado outbreak
Megan Brandsrud Pictured: Damage in Washington, Ill., caused by November 2013 tornadoes. Augustino/FEMA One year ago, on Nov. 17, 2013, a storm system that consisted of 73 tornadoes moved through the Midwest. Illinois was severely impacted—the tornado system that...
Ebola Outbreak: Food assistance in Liberia
Megan Brandsrud (Photo courtesy of Lutheran World Federation) The Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to expand. There have now been more than 13,560 cases of infected persons and more than 4,950 deaths. While the disease itself continues to...
Typhoon Haiyan – One Year Later
Megan Brandsrud (Photo: Participants in a cash-for-work program help clean up debris in Tacloban, a city in the Philippines province of Leyte. ACT/Paul Jeffrey) On Nov. 8, 2014, Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, crashed into the central...