San Diego Relief Group Sends Meals, Lanterns To Hurricane Zone

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego-based aid organization International Relief Teams will send 13,000 prepackaged meals, 4,680 tarps and 2,500 solar-powered lanterns this week to Hurricane Ida victims who lost power or houses, the group’s executive director said Wednesday.

International Relief Teams will make its deliveries because so many people have lost power since Sunday, Executive Director Barry La Forgia said. Hurricane victims without electricity cannot cook, turn on lights or charge communication devices; those who lost homes need tarps as temporary roofs, he said.

About 1 million people have lost power since Hurricane Ida made landfall in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Sunday morning with winds of up to 150 miles per hour.

The aid group raised $250,000 from a nationwide donor network to acquire the relief goods from different parts of the country and to make the deliveries, La Forgia said.

Meals included entrees, bread, snacks, drinks and desserts totaling 1,000 to 1,200 calories per package. They can be eaten straight out of pouches without preparation. Lanterns can recharge phones or laptops.

“Meals are important for people without power because they can’t cook,” La Forgia told Patch on Wednesday. “The other issue with the widespread power outage is to give people some light and to recharge their cell phones." The lanterns, he said, "give them a sense of security.”

Power could take weeks or months to restore, Jenna Montgomery, a spokesperson for the relief group, said.

Meals, tarps and lanterns will be available through temporary distribution centers run by a partner in the Louisiana cities of Gonzales and Houma.

International Relief Teams anticipated it will eventually send construction materials to Louisiana for rebuilding, La Forgia said.

The 33-year-old relief group helps victims of disasters in the United States and in other countries. It provided total aid of more than $2.4 million following hurricanes Delta, Sally and Laura last year, hurricanes Michael and Florence in 2018 and hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria in 2017.