One week after devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela, rescue crews and aid workers are still racing to reach survivors and deliver desperately needed relief.
In the hardest-hit state of La Guaira, search teams are still digging through the rubble, looking for survivors. Today, a Venezuelan security guard was pulled alive from a building basement 8 days after the twin quakes.
Members of Miami-Dade’s Urban Search and Rescue team are on the ground, helping with the recovery effort.
“Up until today there are 2,295 deceased people, 11,267 injured people. We have counted 12,841 displaced people,” said Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly.
International relief teams are also working around the clock, including CBN’s Operation Blessing.
“As part of the efforts, Operation Blessing has an operational kitchen now where we are producing meals to distribute daily,” said Daniel Castro of Operation Blessing.
*** As Operation Blessing is deploying to Venezuela to deliver disaster relief to earthquake victims, click here to help. ***
More than 100 volunteers from local churches are helping OB prepare and distribute hot meals – nearly 3,300 so far – to residents in some of the hardest-hit communities.
Some of those volunteers are still waiting to learn the fate of their own loved ones.
“I have various friends and colleagues in La Guaira who sadly lost their lives; some are still being searched for,” said Reishell Casanova, an Operation Blessing volunteer. “Even though several days have passed, we remain hopeful – in God’s name – that we will find them.”
At night, with electricity still out in parts of the capital, teams are handing out hundreds solar lamps to families in need, “…with this small gesture to show these families and these rescuers that there’s still hope. We want to be a light in their lives, we want to show them that they are not alone,” said Marcos Vinicius of Operation Blessing.
That message remains at the heart of Operation Blessing’s mission as it partners with local churches to reach those who need help most.
“Seeing the human will, the desire to help others, witnessing the solidarity is very moving, because it’s not just those who experienced the earthquake firsthand, but also people who went through the same event and are now compelled to help others,” said Manuel Sangron, a Venezuelan pastor that’s teaming up with Operation Blessing.
The ministry is preparing to open a second kitchen that will help feed thousands more people in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the United States is facing a dangerous heat wave right now. From Atlanta to Boston, more than 175 million people are under extreme heat alerts. A heat dome is blanketing much of the eastern and central U.S., with temperatures expected to soar into the triple digits in some areas.
“Right now, the right thing is to stay inside and let this heat wave pass,” said Dr. Jane Wilcox of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
