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Caribbean - Tropical Storm Lili OCHA Situation Report No. 8

Ref: OCHA/GVA - 2002/0208
OCHA Situation Report No. 8
Hurricane Lili - The Caribbean
2 October 2002

This message is not an official hurricane warning or alert for any country.

1. The National Weather Center in Miami reports that at 15:00 GMT today, the center of Hurricane Lili was located near latitude 24.8 north, longitude 88.9 west, or about 365 miles (584 km) south-southeast of New Orleans, State of Louisiana. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 120 mph or 192 km/h with higher gusts.

2. Hurricane Warning: is in effect from east of High Island, Texas, to the Mouth of the Mississippi River.

3. Tropical Storm Warning: is in effect from Freeport, Texas to High Island, and from the Mouth of the Mississippi River to the Alabama/Florida border, including New Orleans and lake Pontchartrin.

4. Cuba: The United Nations Resident Coordinator reports that some 316,000 persons were evacuated from flood-prone coastal areas of which 46,000 were sheltered in government assistance centers. There is no report of victims.

5. The most affected areas are the Isla de la Juventud and Pinar del Rio Province. This area is suffering form the compounded effect of two hurricanes in less than two weeks. According to official information, the number of houses damaged by the two hurricanes approaches 37,700 of which 3,600 were destroyed.

6. Power and telecommunications lines, crops and buildings were also affected. Fortunately though, thanks to the fact that the two events followed exactly the same path, additional damages to the agriculture sector have been relatively small.

7. The Government of Cuba is currently undertaking a needs assessment and has initiated recovery and rehabilitation works.

8. Jamaica: According to information provided by PAHO, three of the major water supply systems are out of service and several communities are experiencing problems with water supply and/or the quality of water. Some hospitals were left without electricity

9. Health sector priorities as identified by the Ministry of Health with technical support from PAHO are: provision of potable water, latrine replacement, disease surveillance and outbreak control, medical assistance, and damage and needs assessment in the health sector.

International Response

10. OCHA has made available to the UN Resident Coordinator of Cuba an emergency grant for the mount of USD50,000 to be utilized in the provision of immediate relief needs to the affected families.

11. For further information, please refer to the Website of the National Hurricane Service in Miami at www.nhc.noaa.gov, and www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/Gif/atl.latest.gif.

12. This situation report, together with further information on ongoing emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at http://www.reliefweb.int

Telephone: +41-22-917 12 34
Fax: +41-22-917 00 23
E-mail: ochagva@un.org
In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

Desk Officers:
Mr. E. Haegglund / Mr. R Mena / Ms. M. Kondo
Direct Tel. +41-22-917 32 99 / 14 55 / 19 97

Press contact:
(GVA) Ms. Elizabeth Byrs, direct Tel. +41-22-917 26 53
(NY) Mr. Brian Grogan, direct Tel. +1-212-963 11 43

Disclaimer

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