Bethenny Frankel was in an earthquake-ravaged Mexican town on Sunday to help with relief efforts, deliver aid, and speak out about the devastation.
The Real Housewife of New York star, 46, flew via helicopter on Friday night to Jojutla, an impoverished town south of Mexico City that has seen some of the worst of the devastation.
Frankel shared videos and photos to her Instagram page showing leveled buildings, mounds of rubble and people asking for help.
The reality star is using the hashtag #thisisacrisis to promote the cause of her organization, B Strong.
Bethenny Frankel was in an earthquake-ravaged Mexican town on Sunday (pictured) to help with relief efforts, deliver aid, and speak out about the devastation
The Real Housewife of New York star, 46 (pictured, in Mexico), flew on Friday night to Jojutla, an impoverished town south of Mexico City that has seen some of the worst of the devastation
Frankel shared videos and photos to her Instagram page showing leveled buildings, mounds of rubble and people asking for help (left). The reality star is using the hashtag #thisisacrisis to promote the cause of her organization, B Strong (right)
‘It’s one of the worst things I have ever seen. It is pure devastation,’ Frankel said.
‘They have less than zero and estimate they’ll need $11million to rebuild.’
Estimates of the cost of the earthquake run as high as $8billion.
Among the destruction she has seen, Frankel says people are living outside and doctors are performing medical procedures in the street.
Although a relief fund will be set up shortly, Frankel has taken to handing out ‘thousands of dollars’ of her own money in cash to impoverished families.
‘They don’t want water. They don’t want underwear. They want money,’ she said in one video posted on Instagram.
‘They’re trying to rebuild their houses. They have bills. They have less than nothing.’
Frankel also added that medical supplies and feminine hygiene products are sold out and is urging people to donate as much as they can.
Among the destruction she has seen, Frankel (pictured, in Mexico) says people are living outside and doctors are performing medical procedures in the street
Although a relief fund will be set up shortly, Frankel has taken to handing out ‘thousands of dollars’ of her own money in cash to impoverished families. They don’t want water. They don’t want underwear. They want money,’ she said in one video posted on Instagram (left and right)
Frankel (pictured, in Mexico) also added that medical supplies and feminine hygiene products are sold out and is urging people to donate as much as they can
As a fresh aftershock jolted southwestern Mexico on Sunday, the death toll from Tuesday’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake climbed to 319 people, with thousands of buildings damaged and survivors sleeping on the street outside their homes.
Many have been traumatized by the second major quake to strike Mexico City in their lifetime after a devastating 1985 tremor killed an estimated 10,000 people.
Makeshift places of worship have popped up next to the crumbling cement and mangled steel of collapsed buildings in the deeply religious country.
In upscale Roma, one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods of the capital, a priest led mass for nearly two dozen people under a blue tarp while a nun handed out small cards with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, who according to the Catholic faith first appeared to an Aztec convert in 1531.
As a fresh aftershock jolted southwestern Mexico on Sunday, the death toll from Tuesday’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake climbed to 319 people (Pictured, workers search buildings on Friday)
Many have been traumatized by the second major quake to strike Mexico City in their lifetime after a devastating 1985 tremor killed an estimated 10,000 people (Pictured, a rescue worker uses a machine to break up concrete at the site of an office building on Friday)
Rescuers narrowed their search to a handful of buildings in the sprawling capital of 20 million people, using advanced audio equipment to detect signs of life beneath tonnes of rubble (Pictured, rescuers race to save people still strapped in an office building on Friday)
President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has visited the scene of the devastation, has urged Mexicans to turn their attention to rebuilding and many schools were expected to reopen on Monday.
Rescuers narrowed their search to a handful of buildings in the sprawling capital of 20 million people, using advanced audio equipment to detect signs of life beneath tonnes of rubble, with help from teams from as far afield as Israel and Japan.
‘The search and rescue in Mexico City continues as a priority, with cooperation from national and international groups,’ tweeted Miguel Angel Mancera, Mexico City’s mayor.