Hurricane Maria occurred in September 21 2017 In Porto Rico
NBC News was granted a look at a first relief flight in which Samaritan’s Purse staff members assembled 50,000 pounds of supplies, including hygiene kits, toiletries, plastic tarps, generators and tools for the victims of this natural disaster. The organization said it is sending out another aircraft by the end of the weekend through its disaster assistance response team and will carry another 50,000 pounds of supplies. Scott Cottrell, a retired U.S. Army sergeant, was among the dozen staff members on board the first aircraft, a DC-8, to go out this week. He said his desire to do his part is not unique. “I love serving people out there,” he said. “A lot of guys do what I do — get out and serve people, uninterested in money or prestige.” Morgan Radford reported from Puerto Rico, and Yelena Dzhanova reported from New York.
It was Maria’s Category 4 winds and rains, which led to at least seven deaths in Puerto Rico, a dam in the northwest to potentially fail and gut-wrenching scenes of damage, that prompted members of Samaritan’s Purse to react. Government officials said across the island, home to 3.4 million people and more than 15,000 people remain in shelters. In the north coastal town of Manati, fuel and fresh water were nowhere to be found, Mayor Jose Sanchez Gonzalez told The Associated Press, a familiar story throughout the island. “Hysteria is starting to spread. The hospital is about to collapse. It’s at capacity,” he said, crying. “We need someone to help us immediately.”
