This past Wednesday we received news that Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, suffered serious damage from last week's Hurricane Jimena.
 
(The Franciscan mission in Guaymas was featured in the September electronic newsletter that we sent out just a few days ago. We have heard that the friars there are safe.)
 
After missing Cabo San Lucas and crossing central Baja California, Hurricane Jimena became a tropical storm. The storm then stalled over the State of Sonora.
 
The Guaymas area was hit hardest. In some neighborhoods, fifty inches of rain fell in a six-hour period, this in a desert region that averages less than ten inches of rain per year.
 
The volume of rain in itself was enough to destroy some structures. At the beautiful old San Fernando church on the central plaza of Guaymas, the roof collapsed.
 
The heavy rains brought flooding almost immediately. Water, mud, rocks and other debris rushed down dry hills to destroy homes, overturn cars and trucks, and dig gullies out of paved roads. On main streets, floodwaters ran like rivers.
 
Shacks in many of the poorest barrios were wiped out. The number of displaced persons in the Guaymas area is estimated at more than 40,000. In declaring an emergency, Sonora officials reported that about 90,000 were affected state-wide.
 
The state head of public safety said that the drainage and water supply systems in most neighborhoods of Guaymas had collapsed. Officials do not expect running water to be fully restored in the area for two months. Public hygiene is a concern. Shortages in drinking water and basic food supplies have been reported. Schools classes have been suspended until next week.
 
Along with organizations in Mexico, Tucson and Phoenix charities have been gathering relief supplies.
 
If you would like to support long-term help in for recovery, you can make donations to the Franciscans by mail to the address below, or you can do so securely online here. 

 
Look here for more information about the mission in Guaymas. 
 
Peace.
 
Fraternally,
 
Brother John Summers, OFM

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