OCHA Situation Report No. 18
Caribbean Hurricane Season
26 September 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This situation report is based on information received from, the UN
Emergency Technical Team (UNETT) in the affected countries, the Regional
Office in Panama and the National Hurricane Centre. This situation report
covers the effects of storms and Hurricanes "Gustav" and "Ike" in the
Caribbean.

HIGHLIGHTS

- In Haiti the biggest concerns continues to be the massive damage to 
crops, food insecurity and logistics. The Flash Appeal launched 19 
September is only 3.4% funded.

- Heavy rains this week caused floods in several areas of the Dominican 
Republic prompting evacuations.

SITUATION

1. A low pressure system centered about 150 miles north-east of the Grand 
Turk Island is moving at 24k/ph became a tropical storm named Kyle. Heavy 
rains and thunderstorm activity affected Hispaniola this week and Kyle is 
now moving North-west and is 1035 km away from Bermuda.

2. The vulnerability throughout the Caribbean countries has increased 
dramatically with another almost 2 months left before the end of the 
hurricane season. Only little rain can have serious consequences. The 
region has been affected since 15 August successively by tropical storms 
("Fay" and "Hanna") and hurricanes "Gustav" and "Ike" that claimed more 
than 400 lives so far, affecting more than 3 million persons and damaging 
more than 600,000 houses.

HAITI

3. The hurricanes and tropical storms that have affected Haiti since 
mid-August have killed 423 people and left approximately 800,000 in dire 
need of help. More than 111,000 people remain in temporary displacement. 
The colossal damages to the agricultural sector, with 70% of crops damaged 
or destroyed, currently pose the biggest concern as the population already 
suffered from a sharp increase of food prices.

4. The UNDAC Team phased out and handed over to the OCHA office in 
Port-au-Prince as well as to the Sub office of the Humanitarian 
Coordinator established in Gonaives. Additional Humanitarian Affairs 
Officers seconded by DFID and CANADEM are arriving in country to 
strengthen the coordination structure.

5. The Flash Appeal launched on 19 September requesting USD 107 million is 
only 3.4% covered. Outside the appeal, donors have given approximately USD 
17 million in bilateral aid to Haiti. Further funding is urgently needed 
to strengthen early warning systems and community resilience to the 
effects of disasters. UNICEF underlines the urgent need of life-saving aid 
for 300,000 children in Haiti affected by the successive hurricanes.

6. Although the humanitarian relief operation is reaching out to most of 
the affected areas in Haiti, logistics remains a challenge. Several roads 
still need to be restored before isolated communities can be properly 
assisted. As road travel is disrupted by landslides, damaged dikes and 
collapsed bridges, delivering supplies relies on costly sea and air 
transportation (see an overview of road conditions in the enclosed map). 
Efforts to reinforce dikes are underway. However, this will only provide a 
short-term solution that is likely not to hold in case of further heavy 
rainfall. Requests from local authorities to the international community 
for additional reinforcements need to be met as soon as possible. Using 
cash/food for work programs is recommended to empower local communities.

7. Relocation sites are being identified for displaced families. These 
sites include warehouses, unfinished schools or tent camps that enable 
families to remain together and close to their homes. However, stand-alone 
tents are vulnerable to new storms and ensuring protection becomes a 
concern in such a challenging environment. Allrelevant organizations are 
invited to report to the Protection Cluster to ensure that specific needs 
of women,children and people with disabilities are properly addressed.

8. On 23 September, the national meteorological service raised the level 
of alert from orange to red. The government has shared with the RC/HC a 
revised evacuation plan to be implemented in case of new floods. Heavy 
rains during the night of 23 September, for instance, resulted in the 
overflowing of the Orangers River, flooding the lower areas of the city of 
Jacmel where the population faced severe damages to their houses. The road 
connecting Jacmel to Port-au-Prince is threatened by high water levels of 
all surrounding rivers.

Food

9. Some 2,263 MT of emergency food aid has been distributed to 449,854 
persons so far. Additional beneficiaries have received assistance in 
previously inaccessible communities in the department of Artibonite: 6,630 
persons in l'Estere, 2,000 in Desdunes and 2,170 in Dessalines. The fourth 
rotation of the Canadian military vessel St. John was loaded with 122MT of 
WFP food commodities. The cargo was further dispatched to Belle Anse in 
the department of Sud-est, where distributions are organized and 
coordinated with local authorities.

10. The WFP helicopter lifted a first rotation of interagency humanitarian 
assistance to Gonaives on 24 September. A commercial ferry carried a total 
of 430MT of food commodities, as well as twelve WFP/inter-agency light 
vehicles to this city. Furthermore, some 100 MT of food commodities were 
dispatched to Gonaives by the US navy landing craft, while a convoy of 
eight trucks left Port au Prince to Gonaives carrying WFP food commodities 
and three WFP trucks containing fuel and generators. To date, WFP has 
distributed 1,048 MT of food assistance to 274,066 beneficiaries in 
Gonaives.

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