UPDATE: After hurricane, Christians in St. Lucia face water crisis

Hurricane Tomas (NASA/MODIS Rapid Response System)

I received a message from Botham S. Jean, a member of the L’Anse Road Church of Christ is in Castries, St. Lucia.
The Caribbean island took a direct hit from Hurricane Tomas, as we reported.
Here are some excerpts from Botham’s message:

Hurricane Tomas has devastated our country, particularly the more southern, undeveloped parts of the country. Our major roads, rivers, water dam and water system — in addition to our agriculture and tourism industry — have all succumbed tremendously to the wrath of this hurricane.
Fortunately, though, only three brethren were notably affected by the hurricane, all of whom lost a piece of their roofs due to the wind. One of these brethren had a tree fall onto his home. but there was no extensive damage.
However, our main plea at the moment is water. Our water dam has suffered extensive damage due to the dramatic increase in water flow. The wind damaged a number of the electrical panels for the pumps. Landslides flowed into the water and our pipelines. The majority of the country has no access to treated water and there has been major price gouging of potable drinking water … . Therefore, our greatest need is drinking water.
My family and I can probably fare with the cases of water we have now, for probably a week or two. However, my main concern is for the brethren of the congregation, particularly those who are less fortunate, as they may not be able to absorb the exorbitant cost of water.

At this point I don’t have a mailing address for the church in St. Lucia or a congregation in the U.S. that is acting as a collection point for relief funds. I will update this post if that changes.