Hurricane Fiona causes catastrophic damage from the Caribbean to Canada
After making its way across parts of the Caribbean as a tropical storm, Fiona intensified into a Category 1 hurricane just as it slammed into Puerto Rico’s southern coast on September 18. The storm moved slowly, causing devastating flooding and landslides as it dumped more than two feet of rain on the island. All of the territory was left without power and hundreds of thousands of people had no access to water as the storm shut down Puerto Rico’s already fragile infrastructure.
While still impacting Puerto Rico, Fiona reached the Dominican Republic in the early hours of September 19 with winds intensifying to nearly 90 miles per hour. Over the course of the following week the storm left a path of destruction that crossed the Turks & Caicos Islands, Bermuda, and Canada—hitting Nova Scotia, some 2,000 miles north of Puerto Rico.
WCK’s Relief Team was on the ground providing nourishing meals and water to hard-hit communities. We served more than 680,000 meals to families in all regions impacted by the storm.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico took the brunt of the damage. The storm dumped more than two feet of rain on the island, shutting down all of the already fragile power grid, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides, and destroying vast swaths of farmland. Our team began preparing sandwiches the night before the storm made landfall and set up a Field Kitchen as soon as it passed. After two days preparing meals in San Juan, we relocated our Field Kitchen to Ponce on the island’s hard-hit southern coast. Alongside restaurant and food truck partners, the WCK team quickly scaled up to cook 40,000 meals each day that reached communities all across the territory.
Chefs For Puerto Rico
Step Inside WCK’s Ponce Field Kitchen
Chef Roberto joined the #ChefsForPuertoRico team in 2017 following Hurricane María. He has since cooked with WCK in response to other hurricanes, a volcano eruption and an earthquake.
Dominican Republic
By the time the storm slammed into eastern Dominican Republic, it had sustained winds of 90 miles per hour. Strong wind and heavy rain forced thousands to evacuate their homes. Our team quickly began delivering hot meals, sandwiches, and fruit to displaced families and residents of Boca de Yuma—a coastal community near where Hurricane Fiona made landfall. We reached the most remote communities impacted by the storm. As soon as the weather permitted, a helicopter was loaded with sandwiches for people in the Samaná Peninsula where the storm had caused extensive damage and left families without food or water. Another town—Arroyo Santiago—was cut off when heavy rains caused the river to flood and wash away roads. Wasting no time, our team set off on horseback to deliver hot meals to the 120 families left isolated.
Turks & Caicos Islands
As Hurricane Fiona continued to intensify and wreak havoc in the Caribbean, members of our Relief Team loaded a plane from the Dominican Republic with sandwiches, fruit, and water as they headed to the Turks & Caicos Islands the day after the storm passed over the archipelago. On September 23, we began hot meal service on Grand Turk for communities still without power.
Bermuda
One day after landing on the Turks & Caicos Islands, another team was on the ground in Bermuda where the storm left a third of the territory’s largest island without power. WCK’s Relief Team’s efforts were aided by Chef Jason Berwick—a local Bermuda resident and WCK Chef Corps member—who helped identify both communities in need and partners to support. Fueled by WCK-provided meals, essential workers acted quickly to restore utilities. Before power was restored, we provided lunch and dinner to vulnerable families whose food had spoiled due to the lack of electricity.
Nova Scotia
On September 24, the storm hit Nova Scotia on Canada’s Atlantic coast. While families on the peninsula are accustomed to strong storms, the community was not prepared for the devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona. Over the course of 24 hours, the storm washed entire homes into the ocean and forced many families into shelters. In partnership with local restaurants and volunteers, we delivered sandwiches and hot meals to displaced families and senior centers that spent days without power.