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Mission Aviation provides hurricane help

Work just beginning
Posted at 10:10 PM, Oct 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-06 07:28:38-04

As Hurricane Matthew sets its sights on the Florida coast, it's already blasted away at the island nation of Haiti.
The storm brought 140 mile an hour winds and killed at least 22.

And Nampa based Mission Aviation Fellowship is already on the job bringing relief to the area.
MAF has three planes in Haiti at a permanent base near Port au Prince.
They'll be very busy over the next few weeks thanks in part to a key bridge that washed away access to hardest hit areas.

"There's a pastor with 95 people in his congregation whose homes were destroyed," explains MAF pilot David Carwell, "and they're all in his house now and don't have any food, so we're taking food to them."
The pilots say the good news is the airstrips are usable, allowing them to do their work in a country still reeling from the devastating earthquake in 2010.
"The destruction of infrastructure then is probably exacerbating the relief efforts of today." says MAF CEO John Boyd.

In fact, many people are still living in tents six years after the earthquake, and there's not much else in the way of shelter.
The good news is the sun has returned, but one day of wicked weather will keep relief agencies like MAF busy protecting lives for weeks and months to come.

Mission Aviation is looking for pilots and donations right now.
Contact them if you can help.