By Wendy Anders

In response for calls for help from families affected by Hurricane Otto in Upala, Saturday night and Sunday, hundreds of public officials went door-to-door with food rations, reported the Public Security Ministry yesterday.

Police officers, judicial police, migration police and fireman all joined together for a total effort of at least 700 workers who donned ponchos to deliver goods under continued showers in the northern region that was damaged when the eye of Hurricane Otto passed over the low-lying rural communities late last week.

Well-equipped with 4×4 pick-ups, the aid distribution teams criss-crossed eight districts to reach all of the region’s neighborhoods.

Quantities of food were distributed based on the number of people living in each home. Products distributed included bottled water, rice, beans, sugar, oil, tuna, milk, cookies, as well as other products.

In many cases, when people heard or saw the approach of the police trucks, they came out to meet the brigades; and many had specific needs for assistance which were also able to be met, reported the Public Security press office.

Other areas, such as the Talamanca region of the Caribbean has also received food via airlifts, as have other more remote communities, continued the press report.

The food disribution effort is being coordinated and led by two deputy ministers of Public Security: Maria Fullmen Salazar and Juan José Andrade, along with the Director of Judicial Investigative Police Wálter Espinoza.