Direct Relief has delivered 325 shipments of requested medical aid to 45 U.S. states and territories and 13 countries worldwide over the past seven days, including emergency response shipments to the Caribbean for Hurricane Beryl response.

The shipments contained 5.1 million defined daily doses of medication and supplies, including vitamins, rare disease therapies insulin, pain management medications, and more.

Hurricane Beryl Response Continues

While Beryl has weakened, it still poses a serious threat to southern Texas and Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, where it made landfall on Friday morning.

With winds reaching as high as 105 miles per hour, the storm threatens as much as 10 inches of rain and surging waters in parts of Mexico, and will likely reach as far as Texas’s Gulf Coast.

Hurricane warnings are in place in communities along the Yucatán Peninsula’s coastline. Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador has urged those in the storm’s path to seek shelter, reminding them that “the most important thing is life.”

Opposite from Beryl’s path in the Caribbean, Mexico’s Pacific coast is still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Otis, a rare Category 5 storm that devastated the Acapulco area. Standing water and warm temperatures have created breeding ground for mosquitoes, contributing to increased dengue fever cases.

As the region assesses needs, Direct Relief is working with the federal health secretariat’s emergency response team (COPAC) as well as the National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA) and is in close communication with both agencies to mobilize support if it is needed and requested.

Direct Relief has a stockpile of emergency medical backpacks and emergency health kits filled with emergency essentials commonly requested by first responders and has recently continued its support in the country after last year’s devastating Hurricane Otis in Acapulco.

Texas’s southern coast, now within the hurricane’s forecast cone, is also bracing for impact. Beryl will most likely make landfall there on Saturday. Direct Relief is in communication with healthcare organizations in the state on any needs that arise, and Direct Relief’s hurricane preparedness packs, a vital aspect of the organization’s hurricane resiliency and response work, are already stationed at strategic locations in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Over the past week, Direct Relief has shipped medical aid to Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Lucia in response to medical needs in communities directly impacted by the storm.

The organization will continue to monitor Beryl’s impact in order to assess health and emergency needs on the ground, and is prepared to respond as needed.

Operational Snapshot

WORLDWIDE

Over the last week, Direct Relief shipped more than 3.7 million defined daily doses of medication outside the U.S.

Countries that received medical aid over the past week included:

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 310 shipments containing over three tons of medications during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 12,400 shipments to 1,933 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 78 countries.

These shipments contained 228.4 million defined daily doses of medication totaling 3.2 million lbs.

IN THE NEWS

• Here’s How to Help the Hurricane Victims in the Caribbean – The New York Times
• Hurricane Beryl Has Devastated the Caribbean. Here’s How You Can Help Relief Efforts – TIME
• Help Hurricane Beryl Relief Efforts by Donating to These Organizations – Travel and Leisure
• How to help Hurricane Beryl victims – CNN