OCHA Situation Report No. 8
Haiti: Tropical Storm Ike, Hanna, Gustav
11 September 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

General Situation

According to the DPC, 328 people have been confirmed dead. Some 170,000 
families have been affected as a result of tropical storms Fay, Hanna, 
Gustav and Ike. Some areas in the Southern Departments have still not been 
accessed. In Artibonite, the DPC considers Gonaives, Grand Saline and 
Desdunes as the priority area.

Relief operations to the various departments hit by the storms continue 
with efforts focusing on the most affected area of the city of Gonaives 
where an estimated 80,000 people remain in temporary shelters. 
Distribution of potable water remains the main challenge due to the lack 
of available transport capacity. Local authorities plan to set up 
strategic distribution points where bladder tanks will be positioned. 
UNDAC with WFP and UNPOL organized a rapid food distribution for some 220 
prisoners, who had not received aid so far. The UN Disaster Assessment 
Coordination (UNDAC) dispatched one additional staff to the town yesterday 
to strengthen its seven-member team already on the ground in support of 
humanitarian coordination. MINUSTAH is coordinating its operations with 
the US Navy ship dispatched to provide logistic support for aid 
distributions.

The affected areas in the Southern department (Tiburon to Les Cayes) and 
the South Eastern department (Cotes de Fer, Cayes, Jacmel), which are 
still partly inaccessible, are a further priority. Members of the UNDAC 
team have been deployed to Les Cayes, to assess the situation in 
surrounding affected areas.

The main challenge continues to be distribution of relief items to 
beneficiaries. The capacity of implementing partners involved in the 
distribution of assistance is limited. Security concerns also hamper a 
swift distribution of assistance. Furthermore, the number of beneficiaries 
tends to increase exponentially, once aid is about to be delivered, posing 
a significant challenge to plan for an adequate amount of aid to be 
distributed.

During the past two days, coordination between cluster leads and with the 
government has been further strengthened. A cluster leads meeting took 
place on 9 September. The Humanitarian Coordinator requested an analysis 
of each cluster lead on achievements, priorities and gaps in each area of 
intervention. Further meetings to ensure complementary and coordination 
between clusters will be held on a regular basis. On 10 September, Prime 
Minister Michele Pierre-Louis convened a meeting with the DSRSG/RC/HC to 
take stock of the disaster relief operations implemented by the 
international community in response to the humanitarian crisis. The 
meeting was attended by several members of her cabinet, including ?among 
others- the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, the Minister of 
the Interior, the Minister of Public Works, the Minister of Education and 
the Secretary of State for Public Security. Priority actions to be 
undertaken jointly by the Government and humanitarian agencies were also 
defined.

At the local level, UNDAC teams (currently in Gonaives and Les Cayes) have 
the responsibility for humanitarian coordination on behalf of the HC. As 
soon as longer-term resources are available, these teams will be replaced 
by OCHA or staff from the RC/HC Office.

In terms of humanitarian funding, the UN Country team in consultation with 
Haitian authorities is finalizing a Flash Appeal, which most likely will 
be launched in New York and Haiti on 12 September.

Road Conditions

According to UNDSS, movements by road from Gonaives to Port au Prince and 
from Saint Marc to Port au Prince are still prohibited due to flooding and 
collapsed bridges. The road from Ennery to Gonaives and from Cap Haitian 
to Hinche is equally prohibited for UN staff movement. The Road from Port 
de Paix to Gonaives is equally prohibited for UN staff movement. The Road 
from Port au Prince to Les Cayes through Miragoane is hardly accessible, 
since the bridge at Grand Goave is reportedly at the verge of collapsing. 
Roads from Hinche to PAP is cleared. Access from PAP to Jacmel is possibly 
by road, however, caution is required. Although the road from Jeremie to 
Les Cayes is cleared, caution is still recommended.

Attachments: 
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=BEE20E5304135F5C492574C100210FE4&file=Full_Report.pdf


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