OCHA Situation Report No. 21
Haiti: Tropical Storm Hanna, Gustav, Ike
10 October 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION

According to the current national meteorological center's forecast, a 
large area of low pressure is located at around 360 km east south-east of 
the Antilles. Some disorganized zones of rains and storms are associated 
with this system. However, the development of a tropical cyclone is not 
expected for the next 36 hours. Nevertheless, there is the possibility of 
light rain and isolated storms in the Center and South-East departments. 
Populations living in areas at risk must comply with the security advisory 
instructions in case of bad weather.

Coordinated response efforts to alleviate the suffering of affected 
populations are being strengthened through the cluster leads.

Food: According to the September 2008 Food Security Bulletin issued by the 
Government's National Coordination for Food Security (CNSA) and the Famine 
Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), three million people in Haiti 
are now affected by food insecurity, an increase of 20 per cent in one 
month. The lean season from November to December 2008 will be particularly 
hard in the affected zones. As of 8 October, in coordination with its 
implementing partners, WFP distributed 3,893 metric tons of food to 
715,474 beneficiaries including 418,641 persons from Gonaives.

WASH: The WASH strategy for Haiti (next 6-months) has been finalized after 
circulation to partners. A budget for the WASH sector activities has been 
completed with the support of UNICEF WES. The budget estimate for WASH 
activities to date is USD 4,045,000. Current pledged WASH funds are 
estimated at 1,000,000 indicating a WASH funding gap of USD 3,045,000.

Shelter and Non-Food Items:

Shelter and NFI Cluster completed a countrywide gap analysis using the 
cluster database. Unfortunately with the combined resources of the entire 
shelter cluster, this allows for only 27% of the tarpaulins required, 4.9% 
of the plastic sheeting and only 23% of sheets/blankets.

Health/Nutrition: The countrywide priorities are 1) facilitate financial 
access to health care 2) monitoring nutritional status and multiplication 
of reference centers 3) guarantee the quality of drinking water 
distributed or collected, 4) increase anti vector measures (prevention of 
malaria and dengue. Malnutrition seems to be more prevalent in the South 
and especially in the more isolated areas.

Education: The Ministry of Education is aiming for a return to school on 
20 October tentatively in Artibonite. The Director of the Ministry of 
Education for the Department expressed the need for heavy machinery to 
clean certain schools and is currently dispatching to partners (CARE and 
AMURT) the cleaning supplies provided by UNICEF. UNICEF and its partner 
CARE are currently cleaning three schools used as shelters and a part of 
the school will be reserved for the displaced people until they can return 
home.

Attachments: 
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=DD062AD249E4FD82492574DE0006E883&file=Full_Report.pdf

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