OCHA Situation Report No. 8
Hurricane Lili - The Caribbean
2 October 2002


This message is not an official hurricane warning or alert for any
country.

1.  The National Weather Center in Miami reports that at 15:00 GMT today,
the center of Hurricane Lili was located near latitude 24.8 north,
longitude 88.9 west, or about 365 miles (584 km) south-southeast of New
Orleans, State of Louisiana. Maximum sustained winds have increased to
near 120 mph or 192 km/h with higher gusts.

2.  Hurricane Warning: is in effect from east of High Island, Texas, to
the Mouth of the Mississippi River.

3.  Tropical Storm Warning: is in effect from Freeport, Texas to High
Island, and from the Mouth of the Mississippi River to the Alabama/Florida
border, including New Orleans and lake Pontchartrin.

4.  Cuba: The United Nations Resident Coordinator reports that some
316,000 persons were evacuated from flood-prone coastal areas of which
46,000 were sheltered in government assistance centers. There is no report
of victims.

5.  The most affected areas are the Isla de la Juventud and Pinar del Rio
Province. This area is suffering form the compounded effect of two
hurricanes in less than two weeks. According to official information, the
number of houses damaged by the two hurricanes approaches 37,700 of which
3,600 were destroyed.

6.  Power and telecommunications lines, crops and buildings were also
affected. Fortunately though, thanks to the fact that the two events
followed exactly the same path, additional damages to the agriculture
sector have been relatively small.

7.  The Government of Cuba is currently undertaking a needs assessment and
has initiated recovery and rehabilitation works.

8.  Jamaica: According to information provided by PAHO, three of the major
water supply systems are out of service and several communities are
experiencing problems with water supply and/or the quality of water. Some
hospitals were left without electricity

9.  Health sector priorities as identified by the Ministry of Health with
technical support from PAHO are: provision of potable water, latrine
replacement, disease surveillance and outbreak control, medical
assistance, and damage and needs assessment in the health sector.



International Response

10.  OCHA has made available to the UN Resident Coordinator of Cuba an
emergency grant for the mount of USD50,000 to be utilized in the provision
of immediate relief needs to the affected families.

11.  For further information, please refer to the Website of the National
Hurricane Service in Miami at www.nhc.noaa.gov, and
www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/Gif/atl.latest.gif.

12.  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:
  Mr. E. Haegglund / Mr. R Mena / Ms. M. Kondo
  Direct Tel. +41-22-917 32 99 / 14 55 / 19 97

Press contact:
  (GVA)  Ms. Elizabeth Byrs, direct Tel. +41-22-917 2653
  (NYC)  Brian Grogan direct Tel. +1-212-963-1143


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