OCHA Situation Report No. 8
Belize - Hurricane Iris - The Caribbean
12 October 2001


Situation

- Most affected areas are: Stann Creek and Toledo districts (up to 58% of
people in Toledo fall below poverty line).

- The Disaster Assessment Committee of the National Emergency Management
Organization (NEMO) reports 22 persons dead, 8 persons missing and some
20,000 persons affected.

- Some 50,000 at risk of adverse health conditions (source: PAHO/WHO).

- 72 % of houses damaged in the Toledo district.

- In Toledo district rural communities affected are: Aguacate, Big Falls,
Blue Creek, Crique Jute, Dump, Golden Stream, Indian Creek, Jalacte
Jordan, Mafredi, Medina Bank, Monkey River, Pueblo Viejo, San Antonio, San
Marcos, San Miguel, San Pedro Columbia, San Vincente, Santa Ana, Santa
Elena, Silver Creek.

- In Stann Creek district rural communities affected are: Big Creek,
Independence; Placencia, Seine Bight, Maya Beach, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz,
San Roman, George Town, Riversdale.


Health

- Three months medical supplies have been lost and public health
programmes such as vaccination, family planning programmes and prevention
of sexually transmitted diseases have been interrupted.

- Approximately 50,000 people are at risk of adverse health conditions. A
noticeable number of children are playing in the contaminated water and
debris. Sanitation and vector control activities are difficult to conduct
due to the mounts of debris.

- Water supply has been disrupted as water lines are broken.


Agriculture

- Extensive damage to crops (rice and corn), fruit trees, banana
plantations; most livestock is dead or missing.

- Shrimp farms near Placencia and Independence suffered from seepage of
contaminated water which may cause damage up to 25 % of their production.


Infrastructure

- 15 schools have been completely destroyed, 12 have lost the roof and
others suffered extensive damage.

- 21 Government buildings have been damaged, including community centers
and police station.

- No electricity in affected areas.

- Roads in the southern part of the country now operational.


National/International Response

1.  NEMO continues to coordinate the response to the national emergency
caused by Hurricane Iris through its various committees. The District
Emergency Management Committees (DEMOs) of Toledo and Stann Creek
districts and the village branches of NEMO continue to provide valuable in
field coordination of relief and assessment efforts.

2.  The Food and Shelter Committee chaired by the Ministry of Human
Development has expanded the scope of its immediate relief operations to
all the affected villages with basic emergency needs of food. It has moved
over 3,000 persons to temporary shelters.

3.  The Foreign Assistance Committee holds meetings with the resident UN
agencies including the UNDAC team.  It shares information on foreign
assistance to date and will produce updates of donations by governments
and international agencies.

4.  The Foreign Assistance Committee is also compiling information on
local contributions that has been impressive as thousands of Belizeans
sent food, building materials, other supplies and money to the affected
areas.


Unmet needs

The following items are urgently needed:

-  Food
-  Cooking materials
-  Water  Supply
-  Medicines
-  Clothing, (especially for children)
-  Temporary shelter
-  Building materials
-  Tools (construction tools, chainsaws, etc)
-  Portable electric generators

(Sources for all above information: NEMO, Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Cooperatives, Ministry of Education and Sports; United
Nations Resident Coordinator, PAHO/WHO, UNDAC Team.)


5.  Information on contributions to this disaster may be found by clicking
on Financial Tracking on the OCHA internet website, www.reliefweb.int.

6.  For coordination purposes, donors are requested to inform OCHA Geneva,
on relief missions/pledges/contributions and their corresponding values by
item. Donors are encouraged to notify OCHA Geneva of their contributions
to this disaster using the OCHA Standardised Contributions Recording
Format, available electronically on OCHA Internet Website at
www.reliefweb.int.

7.  OCHA is prepared to serve as a channel for cash contributions to be
used for immediate relief assistance, in coordination/consultation with
relevant organizations in the United Nations system. OCHA provides donors
with written confirmation and pertinent details concerning the utilization
of the funds contributed. Funds should be transferred to:

Bank name:          Chase Manhattan Bank, NY
Address:       International Agencies Branch
1166, Avenue of Americas, 17th floor
New York, NY 10036-2708 USA
A/C name:      United Nations Geneva General Fund
A/C:           485-001802
ABA Code:      021000021 (US Banking Code)
Swift Code:         CHASU33
Reference:          OCHA - Belize - Hurricane Iris


8.  This situation report, together with further information on ongoing
emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at
http://www.reliefweb.int.


Telephone: +41-22-91712 34
Fax: +41-22-917 00 23
E-mail: ochagva@un.org

In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

Desk Officers (OCHA Response Coordination Branch):
  Mr. E. Haegglund / Ms. M. Kondo
  Direct Tel. +41-22-917 32 99 / 1997

Press contact:
  (GVA)  Ms. Elizabeth Byrs, direct Tel. +41-22-917 26 56
  (NYC)  Ms. Phyllis Lee, direct Tel. +1-212-963 48 32


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