Above: Mission of Hope Haiti distributes FMSC meals 

One of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic is projected to impact northern parts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before moving towards the United States.

Feed My Starving Children is closely monitoring Hurricane Irma and its potential impact on our food distribution partners in the Caribbean.

More than 10 million children live in Caribbean countries threatened by Hurricane Irma, according to UNICEF.

Over the past few days, our partners in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba have been mobilizing and strategically positioning resources in case they need to respond.

Several of our partners have confirmed they have FMSC meals on hand for immediate use in case of disaster.

The Haitian government called for all public and private institutions to be shut down from noon on Thursday until further notice, according to the New York Times.

While Irma is projected to hit a different part of Haiti than last year’s Hurricane Matthew, it still has potential to affect the country, which mostly relies on agriculture. Flooding, mudslides and loss of livestock are expected.

Poor infrastructure, a lack of flood prevention measures and widespread deforestation can magnify damage from Irma, according to a report by Thomson Reuters.

Post-storm cholera outbreaks are also a concern.

Hurricane Matthew killed about 1,000 people and left 1.4 million others in need of food. FMSC is still working with our partners to meet the needs caused by that storm.

Please continue to pray for our partners and those affected by this hurricane season. We will update you as we know more.