CHURCH WORLD SERVICE: EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
SITUATION REPORT: VENEZUELA FLOODING
November 21, 2000


SITUATION: Heavy rains, flooding and mudslides in northern costal regions
of Venezuela have prompted a state of emergency in 10 states, nearly a
year after storms caused one of the worst natural disasters in the
country’s history, affecting some 350,000 people and destroying at least
90,000 homes.

In the current emergency, at least people have been killed; 7,000 affected
and at least 3,000 homes or damaged, according to the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Thousands have been evacuated from
the affected regions, including the state of Vargas.


RESPONSE: CWS, as a member of the Action by Churches Together (ACT)
International network, has been monitoring the situation and has been in
touch with local partners who are responding to the latest disaster.

They include the Venezuelan-based Ecumenical Committee for the Emergency
and the Reconstruction in Venezuela (CEER), which has done some initial
emergency relief work.

Call the CWS HOTLINE for updates: (800) 297-1516, ext. 111.  For further
information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding,
contact CWS Emergency Response.

Telephone: (212) 870-3151
After-hours emergency pager: (800) 780-0853
Web site: www.cwserp.org


distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
Disaster Information Center             lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm
                                                     sitreps    nat-dsr
      web: www.vita.org                              fireline
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -