Home destroyed by Hurricane Eta in Puerto Cabezas, northwest Nicaragua on Nov. 3, 2020. [Photo: Argeli Garcia]
Seventh-day Adventist leaders in northwest Nicaragua are still evaluating the damage inflicted by Hurricane Eta, which struck the region as a category four storm nearly two weeks ago, destroying homes and causing catastrophic flooding. So far no loss of life among church members has been reported.
“There are inaccessible communities and we are not able to communicate with them,” said Pastor Gabriel Gámez, president of the church in northwest Nicaragua. “The ferry which transports vehicles from one side of the Wawaboom River is not working, it got swept away and the cables that transport it are broken.”
Persons line up at the Porteño Adventist School in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, to take shelter after Hurricane Eta destroyed their homes. More than 400 persons are taking shelter there. [Photo: Argeli Garcia]
“We are thankful that there have only been material damages,” said Pastor Wilfredo Ruiz, president of the church in South Central American who oversees the church in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
“Way before the hurricane hit, we were in contact with local church leaders in northwest Nicaragua to prepare the school to be available just in case,” Ruiz said.
An adventist family affected by Hurricane Eta in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, receives food and goods from local church leader on Nov. 6, 2020. [Photo: Northwest Nicaragua Conference]
Out of the six fields that the South Central American Union oversees, four were affected, two in Nicaragua and two in Costa Rica, said Ruiz. “We are still awaiting additional site reports, and visiting the membership has been made more difficult since the border between the two countries was closed earlier this year because of the pandemic.”
Osmara Risto from the Loma Linda Adventist Church in Puerto Cabezas said that she’s alive and others with her are alive because of the grace of God. “When the strongest winds were whipping the house, my friend Gloria came to the house with her two children. They were so afraid but we stayed safe even after the winds took part of my roof,” she said. “Only God’s powerful hand protected us. We were in constant prayer, trusting that God would see us through the storm quickly.”
Osmara Risto, a church member of the Loma Linda Adventist Church in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, poses for a photo after sharing her story through surviving in her home through Hurricane Eta, Nov. 3, 2020. [Photo: Courtesy Northwest Nicaragua Mission]
Gabriel Gámez contributed to this report.