Miami Catholic Charities to lend staff post-Hurricane Milton

By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | In keeping with the statewide collaborative response to past natural disasters, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami will lend a hand to Florida’s west coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

“We will be sending staff members to a Catholic Charities disaster recovery site (at a key location still under consideration): We will be responsible for an on-site mobile laundry trailer for upwards of three weeks,” said Peter Routsis-Arroyo, the CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.

Catholic Charities sent two staff members this week, and others will rotate as needed, Routsis-Arroyo said.

Catholic Charities USA operates a mobile sanitation and laundry service made possible through mobile units that have been deployed after similar floods and tropical storms across the country. Similar vehicles were deployed to Florida after Hurricane Ian in 2022.

“We also have our (Hurricane Milton relief) appeal up and running. That is the best way we can help,” Routsis-Arroyo emphasized.

One of the strongest hurricanes ever to form in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton made landfall as a major Category 3 hurricane near Siesta Key in Sarasota Oct. 9, 2024, almost on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall Sept. 26 in the Big Bend region of Florida, near the city of Perry.

In recent years, Catholic Charities USA has provided local chapters with logistical support, distribution sites, case management, and on-site sanitation and laundry services to help alleviate the impact of a hurricane on the areas most affected.

Gabe Tischler, emergency management specialist for Catholic Charities of Florida Inc., has also been working with government emergency resources to provide temporary housing for workers in Mayo.

In St. Petersburg, Teresa Peterson, director of diocesan information and communications, indicated that Hurricane Milton had affected all five counties of that diocese, including parishes, schools, and Catholic Charities and diocesan residential programs, some of which were temporarily evacuated in advance of Milton.

Damage from high winds and water incursion was being assessed throughout the region, Peterson noted, including the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle in St. Petersburg, which had significant water intrusion, along with at least a dozen other churches, schools and buildings there.

The diocese announced that Masses would continue as usual where it is safe to do so, and some were opting for outdoor celebrations as power outages continued throughout the state. In addition, seminarians from the diocese were directly engaged in some of the Hurricane Milton clean-up efforts.

In the Diocese of Venice, which was also impacted by both Milton and Helene, Bishop Frank J. Dewane noted that the Venice diocesan region “suffered a lot because of Milton,” although they are not alone in those impacts. For its part, Catholic Charities/Diocese of Venice has established some points of distribution (POD) in Venice, North Port, Englewood, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers and Sarasota.

Routsis-Arroyo noted that hurricane recovery efforts from last year’s Hurricane Idalia were still ongoing in some places, and that the damage from Helene — and now Milton — suggest a long-term effort that is likely to be challenging, given Helene’s equal or greater impact in the Carolinas and Tennessee in particular.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami Relief Fund

For more information about the Miami Catholic Charities Relief Fund for those affected by Hurricane Helene and Milton, click here or visit Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami website. One hundred percent of all funds received will be directed to provide humanitarian relief and assistance to those affected by the hurricane.