The humanitarian agency Church World Service said it was ready to respond to Hurricane Wilma, as it lashed into southern Florida Monday morning. CWS response teams are still in the Gulf Coast following the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

|PIC1|The CWS said yesterday that it was prepared to respond with emergency aid and long-range recovery assistance in hurricane-hit areas.

The Gulf Coast is still recovering from last year’s numerous storms and now anticipates another severe pounding with Hurricane Wilma, at one point one of the most intense hurricanes on record in the Atlantic.

CWS Associate Director for Domestic Emergency Response Linda Reed Brown said: “We are there, we will be there again, and we’ll provide all we possibly can.”

The Christian humanitarian agency will provide the same material resources, including emergency clean-up kits, health kits, and blankets as it did for those affected by Katrina and Rita.

“As needs become evident from any damage sustained by Wilma, our responders will work with local faith communities, support the formation of self-standing long-term recovery groups, and will request emergency relief supplies as needed,” said Ms. Brown.

Church World Service has already positioned its “Gift of the Heart” Health Kits and CWS Blankets for shipment to the most vulnerable survivors in the disaster-affected communities.|TOP|

Hurricane Wilma lost some of its intensity after already battering parts of Cuba, Honduras, Belize, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Cayman Islands, before strengthening again to a Category 3 hurricane as it hit the Florida coast.

“We were hoping that it would weaken some before it makes landfall,” Mayfield, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Centre, told Miami’s WFOR television. “We’re not certain that will happen now.”

CWS is once again appealing for donations to aid survivors of the hurricane which has already killed seven in Mexico, and 10 in Haiti.