As the death toll from Hurricane Matthew continued to rise earlier this week, Jewish groups were working to help victims in the United States and the Caribbean.
The storm, which the National Hurricane Center downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Oct. 9, had left at least 27 people dead in the United States, according to media reports on Oct. 11.
In the Caribbean, much of the damage was concentrated in Haiti, where the death toll was said to have reached 1,000, Reuters reported.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee was focusing its efforts on Haiti, where it was working with relief group Heart to Heart International to provide hygiene kits, water purification tablets and other aid to those on the island’s highly affected southern part.
Also in Haiti, the British agency World Jewish Relief was providing emergency assistance, including food, water, shelter and hygiene kits. American Jewish World Service was sending relief funds to aid groups in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The Mexican Jewish humanitarian group Cadena dispatched volunteers to Haiti to help with search-and-rescue efforts and relief work there.
Chabad emissaries in U.S. states helped provide assistance to victims, including by offering their houses to provide shelter and distributing Shabbat meals and care packages over the weekend to students and residents in Florida.
The Jewish Federations of North America opened an emergency fund to help mobilize humanitarian support and provide relief to Jewish communities in the path of the hurricane. — jta