Hurricane Matthew was still thousands of miles away Tuesday, but the storm is already hitting home for so many in New York City.
Many in the Haitian communities in Brooklyn are praying their families are OK.
"Maybe the winds will shift out to sea and just bypass the lessen the strength of the hurricane," said Claudya C. Verdiner, who has family in Haiti and is also a member of Fernande Valme Ministries, Inc., where members were praying Tuesday.
"We're hoping it'll go from a 4 to a 3 to a 2 and just lessen the blow and minimize the death and devastation," she said.
But some members of Fernande Valme Ministries are trapped in the path of Hurricane Matthew. Its founder Rode Valme -- Claudya's aunt -- had gone to the island on a missionary trip, to bring books and children for about 400 students at recently opened schools. She was stuck there Tuesday.
Speaking through FaceTime from Haiti, she relayed a dismal image.
The video blurry from fog and rain, Valme said, "Oh my God, the water is to the ceiling of the house, so they have to evacuate a lot of people. They have to evacuate those people by boat."
One mother who was forced to leave her nine children back in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake to make enough money to send back home is now worried about her kids there. She told NBC 4 in Creole that "the pain she's feeling now, she feels like she's in labor again knowing she already didn't have the means to take care of her kids and now, there's just no way."
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Claudya, also feeling helpless, said, "That's all we can do for Haiti right now, is to pray."
Since the 2010 earthquake, many in Haiti were still living in tents, which are not strong enough to hold out the rains and winds the hurricane is bringing.
People who wish to donate items for Haiti relief can drop them off at the Flatbush-YMCA at 1401 Flatbush; the Multicultural Bridge Project at 1894 Flatbush Ave.; and the Haitian Family Resource Center at 1783 Flatbush Ave.
Quiescere Resource Center (516-205-9035) is also accepting donations, as is the Fernande Valme Ministries (718-284-1809).
Those with family and friends in Haiti can let them know a hurricane relief and evacuation center has opened at HAC-Haiti's community center in Croix de Bouquets (64 Rue Double Harvest).
