St. Croix Unitarian Pastor Describes Post-Hurricane Maria Damage, Go Fund Me Site, and Neighbor-Neighbor Program

Pastor Qiyamah Rahman of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St. Croix talks about the devastation in St. Croix in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in this video.  She said that 80-85 percent of St. Croix’s infrastructure has been lost or damaged.  The island is receiving federal aid from FEMA and a number of other U.S. government agencies and groups.  She has set up a Go Fund Me site at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St. Croix   on Go Fund Me.  She provides a written description of the needs and concerns of St. Croix as well as the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program she is developing to extend the reach of federal disaster relief to help clear local roads, driveways, and debris in homes and to send volunteers to do wellness checks on neighbors to help identify vulnerable persons who may be sick, disabled, elderly, pregnant, or very young.  She also discusses this in the video interview.  The devastation of larger and more intense storms due to climate change is discussed, noting the opportunity to rebuild the power grid using solar and possibly wind power–along with the importance of standing up for our brothers and sisters in ALL of the devastated areas (hurricanes, fires, droughts, etc.) by contacting our congresspersons and asking for adequate aid for these areas all over the U.S., and for dramatic and immediate steps to address climate change by shifting the U.S. economy to renewable energy.  The shift to electric cars is also a key carbon dioxide reducer.  I interviewed Rev. Rahman in Atlanta on October 1, 2017.  She is planning to return to St. Croix soon, since the airports are scheduled to reopen tomorrow.  She expressed gratitude for the donations and thoughts of care and concern for St. Croix.