{"id":94306,"date":"2021-05-27T19:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/english-direct-relief-prepares-hurricane-prone-communities-for-the-2021-hurricane-season\/"},"modified":"2021-05-27T19:30:05","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T23:30:05","slug":"direct-relief-prepara-a-las-comunidades-victimas-de-huracanes-para-la-temporada-de-huracanes-de-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/direct-relief-prepara-a-las-comunidades-victimas-de-huracanes-para-la-temporada-de-huracanes-de-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct Relief Prepares Hurricane-Prone Communities for the 2021 Hurricane Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}\n]]><\/style>\n<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p><span class=\"xn-location\">SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-chron\">May 27, 2021<\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212;\u00a0With the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season officially starting on <span class=\"xn-chron\">June 1<\/span>, Direct Relief is prepositioning emergency medical supplies along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts and throughout the <span class=\"xn-location\">Caribbean<\/span> and <span class=\"xn-location\">Central America<\/span>. <\/p>\n<div id=\"prni_dvprnejpg5605left\" style=\"WIDTH: 100%; TEXT-ALIGN: left\" dir=\"ltr\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"prnejpg5605left\" title=\"Direct Relief staff load critical medicines and supplies onto a helicopter in San Juan following Hurricane Maria in 2017. The medicines went to Health ProMed Health Center on the island of Vieques. (Photo by Donnie Hedden for Direct Relief)\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Direct Relief staff load critical medicines and supplies onto a helicopter in San Juan following Hurricane Maria in 2017. The medicines went to Health ProMed Health Center on the island of Vieques. (Photo by Donnie Hedden for Direct Relief)\" align=\"middle\" imagelabel=\"General\" src=\"https:\/\/mma.prnewswire.com\/media\/1519695\/DHEDDEN_DR_1712190176.jpg\"\/><\/div>\n<p>The humanitarian effort comes as global temperatures keep rising and the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and other disasters continue to increase. The 2020 hurricane season was the most active on record, producing 30 named storms, 14 of them hurricanes. Two were Category 4 storms, Eta and Iota, that crashed into <span class=\"xn-location\">Nicaragua<\/span> two weeks apart, causing catastrophic damage and triggering a massive wave of displacement.<\/p>\n<p>Direct Relief&#8217;s prepositioned modules contain the medical items most needed in the wake of a disaster, including trauma supplies, antibiotics, and medications for diabetes, hypertension and other chronic conditions. The supplies are made available through local health organizations serving communities most vulnerable to natural disasters. The modules vary in size from 112 pounds for individual clinics to larger 1,680-pound modules for international destinations.<\/p>\n<p>Direct Relief this year is staging the emergency modules at health facilities in every Southeastern and Gulf Coast state from <span class=\"xn-location\">Virginia<\/span> to <span class=\"xn-location\">Texas<\/span>, as well as in <span class=\"xn-location\">Hawaii<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Puerto Rico<\/span>, and Saipan.<\/p>\n<p>Internationally, Direct Relief is prepositioning the modules throughout <span class=\"xn-location\">Central America<\/span> and the <span class=\"xn-location\">Caribbean<\/span>, including in <span class=\"xn-location\">Anguilla<\/span>, the <span class=\"xn-location\">Bahamas<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Barbados<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">British Virgin Islands<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Dominica<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Dominican Republic<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Haiti<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Honduras<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Jamaica<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Panama<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">St. Lucia<\/span>, and St. Vincent and the <span class=\"xn-location\">Grenadines<\/span>, as well as in <span class=\"xn-location\">Bangladesh<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Fiji<\/span>, and <span class=\"xn-location\">India<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Increasing Health Infrastructure Resilience<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Where hurricanes go, power outages follow. Most notably, in 2017&#8217;s Hurricane Maria, <span class=\"xn-location\">Puerto Rico<\/span> went dark for months. Much of the island&#8217;s temperature-sensitive medication spoiled, electronic health records were inaccessible, essential medical equipment was inoperable, and vital health services ceased. Hurricane Maria proved that power is a prerequisite for health.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With the increase of climate change-driven disasters, building resilient health infrastructure has become a core element of Direct Relief&#8217;s response activities.\u00a0The organization has installed solar power arrays and battery backup systems at community health centers across the U.S. <\/p>\n<p>In <span class=\"xn-location\">Puerto Rico<\/span>, Direct Relief, with support from <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3177731-1&amp;h=436848679&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.directrelief.org%2F2018%2F05%2Fwith-100-million-from-abbvie-direct-relief-and-habitat-for-humanity-to-strengthen-access-to-healthcare-housing-for-puerto-rico%2F&amp;a=AbbVie\" rel=\"nofollow\">AbbVie<\/a> and others, is equipping health facilities with\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3177731-1&amp;h=505422123&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.directrelief.org%2F2019%2F02%2Ftransitioning-puerto-rico-health-centers-to-a-solar-powered-smart-grid%2F&amp;a=1.2+megawatts+of+solar+production+capacity\" rel=\"nofollow\">1.2 megawatts of solar production capacity<\/a>\u00a0and 2.6 megawatts of battery storage. Projects include outfitting 89 health centers across the island with 164 FDA-compliant pharmaceutical and laboratory refrigerators and freezers capable of storing roughly 6 million vials of vaccines; furnishing\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3177731-1&amp;h=4004794347&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.directrelief.org%2F2018%2F04%2Fa-puerto-rico-community-powers-its-future%2F&amp;a=22+community+water+pumps\" rel=\"nofollow\">22 community water pumps<\/a>\u00a0with backup solar and battery storage; installing full backup solar power and battery storage on a fire station that lost grid power for months; and providing home-based generators to\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3177731-1&amp;h=2193194025&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.directrelief.org%2F2020%2F08%2Ffamilies-in-puerto-rico-find-a-new-source-of-power%2F&amp;a=32+children+who+depend+on+powered+equipment+to+breathe\" rel=\"nofollow\">32 children who depend on powered equipment to breathe<\/a>\u00a0and for other medical needs.<\/p>\n<p><b>Data-Driven Disaster Preparation<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Whether responding to storms, fires, or disease outbreaks, data increasingly guides Direct Relief&#8217;s work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Using various data sources, including the\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3177731-1&amp;h=1385962243&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.atsdr.cdc.gov%2Fplaceandhealth%2Fsvi%2Findex.html&amp;a=CDC%2FATSDR+Social+Vulnerability+Index\" rel=\"nofollow\">CDC\/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3177731-1&amp;h=1534573002&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fdataforgood.fb.com%2Ftools%2Fdisaster-maps%2F&amp;a=Facebook+Disaster+Maps\" rel=\"nofollow\">Facebook Disaster Maps<\/a>, Direct Relief can identify areas at greatest risk from hurricanes, predict whether people will evacuate, and gauge the impact on local healthcare providers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re increasingly able to get a real-time, high-resolution view of evacuation dynamics, medical needs, and the pressure placed on healthcare infrastructure,&#8221; said <span class=\"xn-person\">Andrew Schroeder<\/span>, Direct Relief&#8217;s VP of Research and Analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Direct Relief is also looking at long-term displacement of people those livelihoods have been destroyed by hurricanes, such as those in parts of <span class=\"xn-location\">Central America<\/span> hit sequentially last year by Hurricanes Eta and Iota. &#8220;There&#8217;s a geography to poverty that corresponds with physical risk,&#8221; Schroeder said.<\/p>\n<p><b>Covid-19 + Summertime Disasters: Why This Year May Be Different<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This hurricane and wildfire season is the second to overlap with the Covid-19 pandemic. While disease prevalence in the U.S. is down sharply from its 2020 peak, the summer of 2021 presents an additional challenge. Last year, emergency management agencies and aid groups could maintain social distancing by relocating disaster evacuees into hotels and motels, largely empty due to the steep drop in domestic travel. This summer, with travel rebounding sharply, those rooms will no longer be available, making it more challenging to safely shelter evacuees.<\/p>\n<p>Photo &#8211; <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3177731-1&amp;h=4115633163&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fmma.prnewswire.com%2Fmedia%2F1519695%2FDHEDDEN_DR_1712190176.jpg&amp;a=https%3A%2F%2Fmma.prnewswire.com%2Fmedia%2F1519695%2FDHEDDEN_DR_1712190176.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/mma.prnewswire.com\/media\/1519695\/DHEDDEN_DR_1712190176.jpg<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>SOURCE  Direct Relief<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p><span class=\"xn-location\">SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-chron\">May 27, 2021<\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212;\u00a0With the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season officially starting on <span class=\"xn-chron\">June 1<\/span>, Direct Relief is prepositioning emergency medical supplies along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts and throughout the <span class=\"xn-location\">Caribbean<\/span> and <span class=\"xn-location\">Central America<\/span>. <\/p>\n<div id=\"prni_dvprnejpg5605left\" dir=\"ltr\">&lt;img id=&quot;prnejpg5605left&quot;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interes-humano"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}