STAMFORD, CT (TIP): AmeriCares has deployed medical teams to Tamil Nadu, where relentless flooding closed schools and a major airport in Chennai and claimed at least 269 lives.

The first team, organized by the AmeriCares India office in Mumbai in partnership with the Indian Medical Association departed December 5 They  were  headed to Chennai, Thiruvaloor and Kanchipuram in the following days.

AmeriCares is focused on ensuring families displaced by the floods have access to essential primary care services, including medication, as well as health and hygiene products that will help prevent the spread of communicable diseases. AmeriCares is also delivering water purification tablets and jerry cans in areas without access to clean water.

“Cholera, typhoid, dysentery and other waterborne diseases are a major concern,” said Shripad Desai, managing director of AmeriCares India. “We will help ensure families affected have access to medical care and safe drinking water to help prevent the spread of infectious disease.”

Exceptionally heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu in recent weeks has caused the worst flooding in 100 years, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. Daily life has been crippled in Chennai, the capital, with washed out roads and major power outages.

AmeriCares has been aiding survivors of natural disasters, political conflict and extreme poverty around the world for more than 30 years, saving lives and building healthier futures for people in crisis. AmeriCares India, based in Mumbai, provides emergency medical and humanitarian aid in response to floods, cyclones, earthquakes and other disasters. Most recently, the AmeriCares India team responded to the Nepal Earthquake, the 2014 flooding in Jammu and Kashmir and the 2013 flooding in Uttarakhand. AmeriCares India also provides health education, supports health workforce safety programs and operates seven mobile medical clinics that provide free primary care services at 130 locations throughout the slums of Mumbai.

To make a donation to support AmeriCares flood response in Tamil Nadu, go to americares.org/tamilnadufloods

About AmeriCares

AmeriCares is an emergency response and global health organization committed to saving lives and building healthier futures for people in crisis in the United States and around the world. Every day, AmeriCares puts critically needed medicines and supplies in the hands of frontline health workers and develops innovative, sustainable health improvements in their communities. For more information, visit americares.org