OCHA Situation Report No. 11
Caribbean: Hurricane Season
10 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 Hurricanes "Gustav", "Hanna" and "Ike" in the
Caribbean.

HIGHLIGHTS

- In Haiti, some 328 people have died up as a result of tropical storms
Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike, out of which 125 in Gonaives/Artibonite. In
total, some 101,810 families have been affected.

- Cuba is also reporting heavy damage as hurricane "Ike" is battering the
island.

- Grand Turk, in the Turks and Caicos, is the most affected following the
passage of "Ike".

SITUATION

1. Hurricane "Ike" is now a Category 1 hurricane and is currently crossing
inland over western Cuba. "Ike" is moving toward the west ?northwest and
will be emerging into the South eastern Gulf of Mexico in the next few
hours. Some weakening is possible as "Ike" moves over western Cuba but
re-strengthening is possible once the hurricane reachs the Gulf of Mexico.
Large and dangerous battering waves along the southern coast of Cuba are
expected.

2. The Caribbean region has been affected since 15 August successively by
tropical storm Fay, hurricanes "Gustav" and "Hanna". These have affected
Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands,
Turks and Caicos, Costa Rica, Cuba and the United States with Haiti and
Cuba particularly impacted.

HAITI

3. With hurricane "Ike" moving away from Haiti, relief delivery resumed
and increased. The priority is to reach affected populations not assisted
so far and getting a full picture of the damages inflicted by the recent
storms. Notwithstanding considerable achievements, there are still large
sectors of the affected population throughout the country which have not
received assistance.

4. According to the DPC, some 328 people have died up to date as a result
of tropical storms Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike, out of which 125 in
Gonaives/Artibonite. Approximately 37 persons are missing and 136 are
injured. Currently, some 78,200 people are in temporary shelters. In
total, some 101,810 families (or 600,000 people) have been affected.

5. While Gonaives is the most affected area, it is becoming evident that
some areas in the southern departments are still inaccessible and have not
received any aid. These include the southern coast between Tiburon and
Coteaux (South department), most of the coast of the South Eastern
department with the exception of Jacmel, and the area around Pilate (North
department). An unconfirmed number of deaths were also reported in
Cabaret, West department, that was heavily affected by rainfall caused by
"Ike" on Sunday 7 September.

6. In Gonaives, water levels have been receding. Delivery assistance in
the city increased but there is an urgent need to strengthen distribution
capacity to significantly enlarge the number of affected people reached. A
meeting between the MINUSTAH SRSG, the DSRSG/RC/HC and the UNCT was held
to further develop complementarities between the UNCT and MINUSTAH. The
focus was on how to overcome existing bottlenecks in the distribution of
relief items, keeping in mind mounting threats to security if the volume
of distribution is not being stepped up immediately. The only bridge to
Gonaives was damaged yesterday ? isolating Artibonite and Northwest
Departments completely from the rest of the country.

7. Efforts are being made to strengthen the work of clusters and the
accountability of cluster leads. The Humanitarian Coordinator convened a
cluster leads meeting on 9 September to confirm the amount of assistance
provided by clusters up to date, consolidate estimated needs and identify
immediate actions to be taken. In Gonaives, the UNDAC team strengthened
its presence in support of humanitarian coordination.

Sectoral coordination and aid deliveries

Nutrition

8. UNICEF cautioned that there was a need to identify more implementing
partners and staff available in the nutrition sector. UNICEF sent a
shipment of nutritional supplies to Gonaives to support MSF-Belgium who is
monitoring nutrition in the area and treating cases of acute malnutrition.

Health

9. Regions outside Gonaives city have not yet been reached. In the
Southern and South Eastern department, some communities have not yet been
accessed since 26 August. PAHO is evaluating health needs through the
deployment of local coordinators in 3 departments (including to Gonaives)
and is providing advice on management of dead bodies. An epidemiological
surveillance system is also being implemented.

Protection

10. UNICEF is coordinating with WFP assessment missions to include a
UNICEF protection component in all missions. PLAN, Save the Children,
AVSI, CRS, World Concern, CRH have positioned themselves to run
psychosocial support projects in the temporary shelters. UNICEF will share
with all partners the list of orphanages approved by the government to
carry out assessments on the situation of children.

Attachement:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=047A4DC0A956D14E492574C000017FDC&file=Full_Report.pdf


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