OCHA Situation Report No. 8
Hurricane Wilma - The Caribbean
28 October 2005


Situation

The following report is based on information provided by the UN Resident 
Coordinator's Office in Cuba and Mexico, the Regional Disaster Response 
Advisor Office in Panama as well as the national emergency management 
agencies in both countries.

Cuba

1. Hurricane Wilma affected 11 out of 14 Cuban provinces during 10 days 
with heavy rainsfalls, strong winds and very serious sea penetrations. 
Due to the complexity of the recovery situation, dangers associated with 
water and power supply, alarm phase is still maintained in 5 coastal 
municipalities in Ciudad Habana.

2. Recovery actions continue in the several square miles flooded by sea 
penetrations that affected more than 100,000 people in Ciudad Habana 
only. Their livelihoods, personal belongings, thousands of houses and 
related infrastructure have been seriously damaged.

3. Most of the evacuated people have returned home except for 4,200 
evacuees from the most affected provinces of Pinar del Rio, La Habana 
and Ciudad Habana. Electricity has been restored in some affected areas 
except in areas of "Habana Vieja" and "Centro Habana" where the flooding 
of underground cables poses the risk of electrical fires. Some 
neighborhoods of the provinces of Pinar del Rio, La Habana and Ciudad 
Habana continue to be affected by power failures given that 146 poles 
collapsed and 12,9 kms of cable, 38 transformers and more than 100 
electricity meters were damaged.

4. Flooding has affected road communications in eastern Cuba; two 
bridges and five roads were cut by mudslides or river outflows. The 
northern coastal highway of Pinar del Rio was also affected.

5. Health care and clean water continues to be provided to evacuees and 
other persons affected. Generators have been installed in health care 
centers of the affected areas, garbage collection has been intensified, 
and contaminated water wells and reservoirs in homes are being drained.

6. Some 76 educational institutes were affected, 33 of them in the 
province of La Habana reported damages in roofs. The tourism sector 
reports 694 damaged hotel rooms. The agricultural sector reported the 
damage of coffee, tobacco and banana plantations.

7. Immediate needs identified include: mattresses, sheets, pillows, 
canned food, water containers for domestic use, hygiene products and 
other personal necessities. In the medium and longer term, 
rehabilitation and reconstruction of housing will be of great priority.


Mexico

8. On 27 October, Cancun's airport opened for the first time after 
Hurricane Wilma struck. Many tourists flew home after spending six 
nights in shelters with no electricity, little food or drinking water, 
overflowing toilets and intense heat.

International Response

9. No request for international assistance has been made by either 
Mexico or Cuba.

10. The coordination and information systems established with the UN 
main national counterparts, donor community and NGOs continue to be in 
effect.

11. OCHA is in close contact with the United Nations Resident 
Coordinator's Offices in Cuba and Mexico, and will revert with further 
information as it becomes available.

12. 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.

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

Telephone: +41-22-917 12 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. Ricardo Mena
    E-mail: menar@un.org, direct Tel. +41- 22- 917-1455
  Mr. Dusan Zupka
    E-mail: zupka@un.org,  direct Tel. +41-22-917 1645

Press contact:
  GVA - Ms. Elizabeth Byrs, direct Tel. +41-22-917 2653
  NYC - Ms. Stephanie Bunker, direct Tel. +1-917-367 51 26

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Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
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Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                   guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
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