Save the Children

When the unthinkable happened late this summer and fall – three major hurricanes dealing devastating blows to children, families and communities in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico Save the Children was there to support vulnerable children and famlies. We addressed urgent needs in all three places and have initiated longer-term recovery programs. The large population of affected children, especially those in low-income and least-served communities, underscores the important role we can play in their recovery. Your investment in our work is an investment in their future, and we thank you for spporting their needs.

The Hurricanes’ Impact on Communities and Children

Hurricane Harvey was the most powerful hurricane Texas had seen in over 50 years. High winds and storm surge as the storm crashed ashore on August 25, and then epic flooding as Harvey lingered over Texas for days, resulted in a path of damage over 300 miles long.

Irma barreled into the Florida Keys on September 10 as a Category 4 storm and then carved a path of destruction up the state’s west coast. There were also floods in numerous communities. It was the most intense Atlantic hurricane to strike the U.S. since 2005. Irma was especially devastating to families in low-income communities in Miami/Dade County, the Keys and rural agricultural communities in southwest Florida.

Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane on September 20, pummeling the U.S. territory with winds up to 155 miles per hour and torrential rain. Rooves were ripped off homes and buildings. As of November, thousands of Puerto Ricans, including children, are still without access to a consistent source of clean drinking water. Roads and infrastructure in many parts of the island remain unstable or unusable. Nearly six in 10 people still had no power, and outages are common in places where power has been restored. Schools have begun to reopen, but with abbreviated schedules reflecting the lack of electricity and clean water. Without full school schedules, families have to continue to adapt their work schedules to care for children who are out of school for part or all of the school day.

All three storms overwhelmed children. In some of the communities where the destruction was the greatest, children spent days in unfamiliar, cavernous evacuation centers, sleeping on cots surrounded by strangers. Many children’s regular learning routines of early childhood programs and schools remain interrupted, denying them access to learning, fun, friends and contact with their teachers

 Many girls and boys were also impacted psychologically and will need culturally-appropriate, age-specific support to recover from the distress caused by their experiences. If untreated, this stress can negatively affect a child’s long-term emotional and psychological well-being – adversely affecting their behavior, school performance and future success.

 Save the Children’s Response

Save the Children, the national leader in child-focused emergency relief and response in the U.S., deployed teams of trained staff and volunteers to Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico to launch aid to thousands of storm-affected children and their families.  As of late November we have reached over 31,400 children and adults who were directly affected by the three storms.

We provided families in evacuation centers and communities with essential infant care supplies such as hygiene items, cribs and children’s clothing. In Puerto Rico, we also helped with food distributions in shelters and provided blankets and hygiene kits to families using seven government “stop-and-go” centers to pick up relief supplies.

In partnership with Habitat for Humanity Puerto Rico, hundreds of families are receiving shelter kits to help them make temporary repairs to their homes. Kits include tarps, hand tools and nails and screws.

This work continues; in Florida we have joined forces with local organizations in the battered Keys and in impoverished migrant and agricultural communities to distribute large quantities of infant and adult hygiene supplies and backpacks for children filled with school supplies.  Books and children’s clothing have also been provided by our Texas team.

We opened our signature child-friendly spaces in evacuation centers to provide children with access to safe places and structured activities while they were in a strange and unfamiliar environment. Distressed children also received psychosocial support from professionals whom we trained and equipped to provide needed support. Our community-based children’s centers in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico are providing children with access to education and development activities while their Head Start and child care programs are closed.

Our teams in Texas and Florida are now transitioning to longer-term recovery strategies that will keep us by the sides of children and families. Our overarching goals are to ensure that children are safe and protected; that the most vulnerable children and their families, caregivers and communities are supported to recover; and that they are resilient and ready for the next disaster.

We are coordinating with local and state childcare and education officials on restoration of these services, and we’ve started training local mental health counselors, teachers and other adult caregivers to support children’s emotional recovery and resilience.

The Impact of Your Support

When U.S. children are jeopardized by an emergency, the compassion and generosity our donors display means that Save the Children’s trained humanitarian staff is among the first to arrive. Whether children and their families need essential supplies, places of respite for children living amid damage and chaos, a rapid restoration of child care services and school or emotional support, our teams depend on your contributions to stay, scale up proven programs and commit to remaining while recovery takes place.

Thank you for your continued support of Save the Children's programs in the U.S and around the World!