ReliefWeb

13 Days that changed the Caribbean

What is supposed to only happen once in a century has occurred twice within 13 days. Two Category 5 Hurricanes (Irma and Maria) have rolled across the same part of the Caribbean, leaving massive devastation and loss of life across dozens of fragile island nations. What Irma did not destroy, Maria did her best to finish. With over 90% of the homes destroyed, the entire population of Barbuda was evacuated off their island home. The other devastated island nations are still either preparing for the next onslaught, or digging out to try and start over. They need help from every international community.

Sailing with a greater purpose in the Caribbean!

With the support of the International Yachting Community and guidance from our partners on the ground in the Caribbean, Sea Mercy was honored to be asked to lead the Disaster Response & Recovery efforts in the Caribbean on their behalf. Paul Deeth (Chairman Antigua Charter Yacht Meeting) and Mrs. Anne-Marie Martin (Parks Commissioner of the National Park in Antigua and Board Member of ACYM) will help establish and oversee Sea Mercy's Caribbean Headquarters in English Harbor, Antigua and help to further engage the initial and ongoing support of the International Yachting Community. Sea Mercy and our experienced international leadership team that includes Superyacht Captains, Disaster Response Directors, and industry partners, will direct the ongoing day to day operations of our transport vessels and volunteers (expected to last from 12-24 months).

We will initially focus on meeting the needs in the following key areas:

Dedicated Transport - A dedicated and capable heavy lift transport vessel that can deliver essential aid and volunteers quickly and directly to the needed areas
Clean Water Generation - To avoid the risk of disease, the most important need is clean water to drink through the delivery of desalination and water storage containers
Health Care - Volunteer medical teams will be giving of their time and talents to help meet the essential needs of the people until health clinics and hospitals are rebuilt
Roofing & Building Materials - Roofing, water catchment, lumber, nails, tools and building supplies

Hurricane Irma and MAria Relief | SEA MERCY

Sea Mercy brings the following to the leadership position:

• 4 years of disaster response & recovery experience following three of the largest Category 5 Cyclones to ever hit the South Pacific (Cyclones Ian in Tonga, Pam in Vanuatu and Winston in Fiji)
• The experience and ability of coordinating over 80 volunteer yachts and Superyachts who participated in their response and recovery efforts
• The ability to effectively and professionally work with local government disaster management leadership (DMO) and help coordinate and support aid distributions and transport for international aid organizations (NGO's) of all sizes
• The ability to recruit, screen and deploy disaster response teams (medical, disaster, construction) and aid to the hardest hit remote areas
• The ability to secure and distribute quickly and effectively food, shelter, water and medical aid to the most remote areas
• A dedicated and capable aid Transport Vessel that can deliver the above aid and volunteers quickly and directly to the needed areas (including 20' and 40' containers, drinking water, equipment and materials) and provide direct support for our fleet of volunteer yachts and Superyacht

How you can help

Sea Mercy and our partners are providing the 12-24 months of transport, implementation and logistics of the above disaster response & recovery efforts, but we need your assistance in helping us support those efforts. Here is how you can help:

• Make a financial donation (all funds donated will be used to support our Caribbean efforts). You can use the below Donate Button or Email Us for the Wire Transfer information.
• Sponsor a specific relief program, needed equipment or aid request.
• In-kind donations (please Contact Us for specific aid requests)
• Introduce us to potential partners and sponsors who would like to help

Questions?

Call us (Sea Mercy) at 541-935-5846, or contact Paul Deeth or Anne-Marie Martin for more information.