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Haiti + 5 more

Caribbean Hurricane Season OCHA Situation Report No. 8

Attachments

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 Carribean.

HIGHLIGHTS

- A Flash Appeal is being prepared for Haiti. All UNDAC Team members have arrived. Some 250,000 people are affected by "Hanna" in Gonaives only.

- Hurricane "Ike" has been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane and is threatening the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.

SITUATION

1. On 25 August, a tropical depression in the Caribbean strengthened into Tropical Storm "Gustav" and made landfall in Haiti as a Category I hurricane on 26 August. On 30 August, "Gustav" became a Category IV and made

landfall on Cuba's Island of Youth and Pinar del Rio Province. It then continued through the Gulf of Mexico threatening the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi in the United States. "Gustav" has affected Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba and the United States.

2. Upgraded earlier to a category I hurricane, the centre of tropical storm "Hanna" is just below hurricane strength and continues westwards. On the forecast track, the center of "Hanna" should cross the southeastern coast of the United States tonight or early Saturday then move along the mid-Atlantic coast later Saturday and Saturday night. Meanwhile, Hurricane "Ike" is now a Category 3 hurricane and is heading towards the Bahamas. On this track, "Ike" could be near the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas early Sunday. Some fluctuations of strength are expected in the next day. Tropical Storm "Josephine" continues to weaken over the eastern Atlantic.

HAITI

3. On 4 September weather conditions continued to improve, granting additional access to the most affected regions by hurricane "Gustav" and tropical storm "Hanna". Efforts are under way to bring much needed assistance to affected populations very quickly as hurricane Ike's path (currently category 3) might make landfall on the northern part of the island over the weekend. The extent of damage in Gonaives is becoming more evident since water levels started receding. Some 250,000 people are affected and approximately 60,000 to 70,000 people are currently in temporary shelters in Gonaives. Some 1,000 people are injured. There are 150 officially identified temporary shelters in eight zones of the city. Many unofficial shelters have been created. The population urgently needs drinking water and food.

4. The DSRSG/RC/HC convened an emergency meeting with heads of agencies, NGOs and IOs highlighting the need for urgent action in Gonaives. A first coordination meeting with local authorities took place in Gonaives with staff of the RC/HC office. WFP and MSF were able to send personnel to the city and rapid needs assessments are currently ongoing. There is still a considerable logistical challenge to transport and distribute relief items, as access to the city is still limited. The only possibility to reach Gonaives by land is the route Gonaives-Mirebalais with light vehicles. Additionally, social tensions are rising, since the population is growing more frustrated with the delay in the provision of assistance.

5. The situation in the southern parts of the country is still preoccupying and some areas continue to be inaccessible, although assistance reached affected population in many parts.

6. Coordination at the sectoral level as well as between the local and central level in Port-au-Prince has been strengthened based on the cluster approach. Humanitarian Partners continue working on a Flash Appeal. At an interagency coordination meeting, OCHA announced that funds were available from the Emergency Relief Response Fund (ERRF) of the Relief, Recovery and Reconciliation mechanism (3Rs), aimed at providing rapid and flexible funding to address the immediate needs during the first phase of an emergency and before mainstream responses start. The fund will be used to strategically fill gaps (geographic and sectoral) within the overall response plan. In addition, agencies are planning to apply for a CERF rapid response grant to provide an immediate life saving response. Many agencies have already tapped into their internal funds.

7. Inter-sectoral coordination meetings are taking place on a daily basis, with all humanitarian partners present in the country as well as incoming emergency missions. In addition, sectoral meetings are taking place on a regular basis to define response plans for the emergency including the Flash Appeal. More external assistance information will be available in the next situation report.

Shelter and non-food items

8. Evaluation teams have been dispatched to St. Marc, Petit/Grand Goave and Les Cayes. Findings indicate that the infrastructure in a number of temporary shelters in Les Cayes, Petit and Grand Goave and Gonaives is insufficient or damaged. In St. Marc, the municipality is currently refusing to open public buildings for temporary shelters. IOM is currently carrying out assessments in Gonaives, to determine the number of people located in temporary shelters. Premises of CARE in Gonaives were temporarily used as shelter by some 250 people. The MINUSTAH Argentinean contingent assisted in the relocation of these people. IOM and partners are trying to identify alternative temporary shelters, as the number of the displaced is likely to increase significantly once people are able to leave their houses.

9. On 4 September IOM received the following relief items from USAID: 10,800 water containers (10 liter), 5,088 hygiene kits and plastic sheeting for 5,000 families. IOM has secured 5 closed trucks in order to transfer goods to a warehouse, in partnership with CRS. There is an urgent need to replenish stocks of non-food items. The shelter sector has also identified the need to provide affected communities with basic tool kits and possibly basic construction materials.

Health

10. In general, the main health risk remains diarrhoeal diseases, due to the lack of clean drinking water. Monitoring of the health situation in the affected departments is ongoing. The sector is conducting daily meetings in coordination with the ministry of health.

11. The hospital of St. Marc has been reinforced with a Cuban brigade. Surgical supplies have been provided by PAHO. MSF Belgium, in coordination with the ministry of health and PAHO, has transformed a health centre into a small hospital in Rabuteau.

12. In the South and South Eastern departments, according to PAHO, Tiburon is still inaccessible; no medical supplies have been delivered. Basic medical relief items have been delivered by PAHO to Cote de Fer. In the North Western department, there is no electricity in the hospital of Port-de-Paix. Daily evaluations of health centres in the West, North and North East are being carried out by departmental health authorities and medical teams. The findings are generally positive; however there is a lack of electricity in hospitals. MSF Belgium and the ICRC have established mobile hospitals in Carrefour and Cite Soleil. In Grande Anse, MDM France established a mobile hospital with basic supplies provided by PAHO. PLAN INTERNACIONAL is assisting communities affected by the Hurricane Gustav in the southeast department of Haiti in partnership with the Departmental Direction of Health. Stock of medicines, medical and health care products were provided as well as psychosocial support to affected children and their communities.

Food

13. At this stage of the emergency, food is still one of the main priorities. So far, some 14, 000 beneficiaries have been reached. WFP has distributed 140 MT of food to the affected areas in the South East, Nippes and West department. 7 WFP staff members arrived in Gonaives. World Vision is providing hot meals for 100 persons in Gonaives and some 800 hot meals to the population in Hinche. CRS is carrying out food distributions for 2,000 families in Les Cayes, for 300 families in Leogane, 355 families in Petit Goave and 135 families in Vialet. For the specific case of Gonaives, on 4 September, WFP is planning to send 7 MT of HEB by helicopter. A boat chartered by WFP was scheduled to depart Port-au-Prince for Gonaives. WFP is also exploring a road access with M6 trucks to transport 170 MT of food for 50,000 people for one week. Sectoral coordination meetings on food security, logistics and ICT are held on a regular basis.

Water and Sanitation

14. WatSan has been identified as one of the main priorities. Some EURO 2000,000 is already available for emergency assistance in the WatSan sector, provided by ECHO. A UNICEF WASH officer is expected to be deployed soon from RO Panama.

Protection

15. A meeting with UNICEF partners in the protection sector was held on 4 September. Local partners are being identified to carry out psychosocial projects. Psychology students will be recruited by UNICEF's partners to assist in the implementation of the projects. UNICEF is deploying a child protection officer to Gonaives.

16. The UNDAC team latest members will arrive today. UNDAC members (2) are already in Gonaives with TSF and an OSOCC was established in the OCHA premises in Port-au-Prince. A Flash Appeal will be launched next week. Clusters are activated and global cluster support will be requested from logistics, WASH, shelter and early recovery. An MCDA request was sent today by WFP. UNICEF is exploring the possibility of its internal emergency program funding (EPF).

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