.- Bishop Leopoldo Gonzalez of Tapachula, Mexico, is encouraging Mexicans to reach out to those affected by tropical storm Stan, which caused heavy flooding in the region. The bishop warned that because the damage in Tapachula is worse than the damage caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, donations of food, water, medicine and clothing are urgently needed.
Bishop Gonzalez reported that according to pastors and catechists of the diocese, the more than 40 neighborhoods located near the Coatan River have suffered the most damage. He added that while there are some five thousand people in town of Motozintla who have been displaced by the storm, in the valleys of the Sierra Madre Mountains there have dozens of deaths and hundreds of homes destroyed.
