OCHA Situation Report No. 19
Haiti: Tropical Storm Hanna, Gustav, Ike
4 October 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION

According to 'Weather Underground', 2 named storms and one hurricane are
expected for the month of October. There is a 50/50 chance the hurricane
will be an intense one. October is part of the peak portion of the
hurricane season. Activity does not begin to drop off significantly until
mid-October. Populations living in areas at risk must comply with the
security advisory instructions in case of flooding and landslides.

Coordinated humanitarian relief operations are ongoing with regards to
Food, Nutrition, Shelter/Non-Food Items, WASH, Protection, Health,
Logistics and Early Recovery.

Food: As of 2 October, in coordination with its implementing partners, WFP
has distributed 2,944 metric tons of food to 563,454 beneficiaries
including 369,116 from Gonaives. However, recent WFP missions in some
locations of the Artibonite and North-West departments highlighted an
increase in food prices as a result of difficult access to those locations
hindering food availability.

Water Hygiene and Sanitation:A draft WASH strategy for Haiti covering the
next 6 months has been elaborated with UNICEF WES, government, and NGO
partners. CEPA in collaboration with UNDP have initiated a national
inventory on the condition of 300+ water supply systems at commune level.
The object of the inventory is to provide a rapid overview of those
systems requiring rehabilitation/repair,differentiating between pre and
post-hurricane damage. Costs for potential emergency interventions are
currently being assessed.

Health/Nutrition: Apart from some isolated rural locations the Health
system is progressively retrieving its usual functioning state. However,
while no epidemics have been reported, a sporadic over morbidity is being
reported. Although data are not available, the nutritional status of the
population is of concern as sporadic cases of severe malnutrition in
isolated locations are added to the possible aggravation of chronic
malnutrition. WHO, in conjunction with its partners, is closely monitoring
the situation.

Early Recovery: A UNDP high-intensity labor project in partnership with
ILO, WFP, Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation and community
federations has started in Gonaives. Urgent works to repair breaches in
the banks of the River Quinte, reinforcement of previous anti-erosive
works and extension of these works in 10 areas of Gonaives are included in
the project, which will employ 10,130 people between 25 and 50 days. Field
visits in Gonaives and in the South-East have confirmed the need to extend
labor-intensive activities.

Shelter and Non-Food Items: In view of fluctuating information being
reported regarding the numbers of persons in emergency shelters, the
cluster coordinator has urgently asked all members with field personnel to
collect information regarding the origin of IDPs and to report back. IOM
and its distributing partners in Gonaives - OXFAM, CARE, CARITAS, WFP, ACF
and MSF - continue distribution to both shelters and the broader
communities.

Logistics:A WFP helicopter facilitated yesterday a medical evacuation from
Cap-Haitian. A USAID and OFDA assessment was also facilitated by a WFP
helicopter. Three members of the Swedish Rescue Service Agency arrived
this week to support the WFP logistic team. I. RESPONSE BY SECTOR

I. RESPONSE BY SECTOR

Food

As of 2 October, WFP has distributed 2,944 metric tons of food to 563,454
beneficiaries including 369,116 from Gonaives.

In Gonaives, distributions were carried out in coordination with CARE,
AMURT and CARITAS. WFP distributed some 151MT to 25,260 people in three
sites in Gonaives (Bienac, Zetrene and Sans Raison) and in Villard, a
communal section of Marchand Dessalines.

In Jacmel, WFP's partner CROSE distributed 12MT of food to 1,760 people.
Since the beginning of the emergency response, WFP has distributed some
568MT of food commodities to 51,931 beneficiaries in the South-East.

On Wednesday, WFP visited the communes of Terre Neuve, Saint Michel de
l'Atalaye (Artibonite department) and Bassin Bleu (North-West department)
and made assessments in order to prepare the relief response for those
areas.

In light of the assessment, it seems the situation is getting worse with
people requiring food and medical assistance as well as drinking water.
There are also reports that food prices are increasing in the local market
and that local agricultural infrastructure has been damaged. At Saint
Michel de L'Atalaye, at least 840 houses were destroyed by the floods.
Tropical storms left a lake 26 km long and seven feet deep in a locality
called Marmont.

Shelter and non-food items

Gonaives

The cluster coordinator urgently asks all members with field personnel
working with shelters to collect information as to origin of IDPs and
report back. This is because some cluster members reported that the number
of people in shelters in Gonaives is growing (could be a possible
indicator of rural to urban migration) while some reports are highlighting
decreasing numbers.

On 1 October, the following IOM items were sent to Gonaives: 5,000 bed
sheets, 676 bottles of disinfectants, 36,000 soap bars, 3,670 plastic
sheets, 2,780 blankets, 3,000 Hygiene kits, 5,960 Mosquito nets, 828 wash
basins and 310,000 liter water bladders. IOM and its distributing partners
in Gonaives - OXFAM, CARE, CARITAS, WFP, ACF and MSF - continue
distribution to both shelters and the broader communities.

Gaps

There is a serious gap in tarpaulins which are missing in the large
quantities needed in the city of Gonaives. Only 8,041 tarpaulins are
anticipated to cover the entire disaster which has affected 95,143
families according to government figures. There is a gap of at least
50,000 tarpaulins if we make the assumption that 30% of homes received
only minor damage.

In order for families to repair their homes temporarily, tool kits are
critical items which will ensure families are sheltered from the elements
and stabilize their lives from the effects of the emergency phase.
Therefore there is a gap of at least 8,000 additional tool kits.

According to WHO, 160,000 mosquito nets are needed. As of today, only
15,190 mosquito nets have been distributed throughout the country. To
respond to this critical need, on 29 and 30 September, IOM has sent 21,200
mosquito nets to Gonaives. There is still a shortfall of 116,110 mosquito
nets countrywide.

For Gonaives in particular hygiene kits and disinfectants are still a
priority to improve sanitary conditions. 13,973 have been distributed in
Gonaives. 19,517 are pending countrywide; there is a gap of around 35,000
of which another 15,000 should be targeted for Gonaives

Attachments:
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