HUNTINGTON — More than two weeks have passed since twin hurricanes battered both coasts of Mexico, leaving at least 97 people dead and 68 missing. Thousands of tourists were stranded in Acapulco and 100,000 people were affected in Sinaloa, according to the Mexican government. Meanwhile, in Utah’s east-central missions, the human aspects of the storm landed hard. Rosario Leon Cano, a parishioner of San Rafael Mission in Huntington, is still very worried about the future of the affected communities in Mexico. Her parents, grandparents, uncles and basically almost all her family are stranded in a small community in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, near where one of the hurricanes made landfall, bringing heavy rains and sustained winds of 45 miles per hour, leaving flooding and mudslides all over that state. The two hurricanes affected 29 of the country’s 31 states. "It was really frustrating because we could not communicate at all with our families there," said Cano. Many days passed before she was able to hear her father’s voice again. "Thanks be to God they are all alive," said Cano. "Their house is still there, but it got flooded." Her family’s fate is similar to many others; although their homes were able to survive, people lost all their belongings. "Everyone over there is trying to help through the Church, the community and the government, but all these people for a long period of time are not going to be able to work again. They have lost everything. Their fields were lost. My dad, until a few days ago, wasn’t able to get out of the stranded place because of all the mud that was created with all the water," said Cano. Many other Catholics in Utah, such as Silvia and Mingo Olivas, also have families that were affected. "We were waiting to hear from our parish to know how to help our families over there," said Silvia Olivas, also a member of San Rafael Mission. Her brothers and parents lost everything in the storm. "At the beginning I could not find comfort in anything. I was really worried for them. They don’t have a landline and there was no light, so they couldn’t use their cell phones," said Olivas. When she finally was able to communicate with them, she learned that they were able to get out of their homes before the flooding destroyed them. "In the ranch there is a canal and all the water came out of it. It was terrible," said Olivas, who wanted to let people know that "today we have to get together and help them because tomorrow we might be the ones who need help." When news of the extensive damage caused by the storm reached them, Catholics in Huntington and Ephraim gathered to pray to God to protect their families. "And now we are finding ways to send the help to them," Cano said. "Some families are selling food to collect money to send; some others have sent money through transfers through financial services, but this is just the beginning of a long recovery for them," said Cano. "We were worried that the help was not going to get to the most affected ones and to our families, but talking with Father Hope and with our priest over there [in Mexico] we feel more comfortable." Father Donald Hope is administrator of San Rafael Mission. Relief for the storm victims may be sent to Caritas Mexico, the local arm of Catholic Relief Services. CRS is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. To donate, visit http://www.catholicrelief.org/ and click under donate. The form allows the donor to specify what relief effort they want their money to go toward. To donate by phone, call CRS at 1-877-435-7277 from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Donate by mail by sending a check or money order to Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21203-7090. "We never know when we are going to need help or to be living a tragedy. If we can help our brothers and sisters, now is the time to do it," said Cano.
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