Date: Mon, 11 Sep 95 18:10:45 EDT
From: Emergency Information Administrator
Subject: Caribbean: Hurricane OFDA-06
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID)
BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
CARIBBEAN - Hurricane
Fact Sheet #6 September 11, 1995
Note: The previous fact sheet was dated September 8, 1995.
Background: After battering the northern leeward islands from
September 4 to September 6, Hurricane Luis has cleared the
Caribbean. As of 11:00 am EDT, Luis was located about 505 miles
south-southwest of Bermuda. The Government of Bermuda has issued
a tropical storm warning.
Numbers Affected: There have been no official estimates of the
number of people in the Caribbean affected by Hurricane Luis.
The Pan American Health Organization reports 2 people killed and
158 injured in Antigua, no deaths or injuries in Barbuda and only
minor injuries in St. Kitts & Nevis. Media reports indicate that
at least 16 people have been killed, dozens are missing and
thousands have been left homeless but these have not been
confirmed by official sources. Contrary to previous reports,
there were no hurricane-related deaths in St. Maarten.
Current Situation: A U.S. Military Disaster Assistance Survey
Team (DAST), tasked with coordinating the evacuation of American
tourists, arrived in St. Maarten on September 9. By September
10, all Americans who wanted to leave had been evacuated via a
combination of U.S. military, commercial and contract flights.
The DAST reports that the Government of the Netherlands has
sufficient quantities of relief items for victims of Hurricane
Luis and will not require outside assistance. The island's
electrical plant is operating and water points have been
established on the island. The DAST plans to depart today.
According to PAHO and BHR/OFDA field teams, Antigua's electricity
and telephone services are being restored. By today, 80% of the
island's water services should be working. Visual assessments
indicate that 80-90% of the island's homes have been damaged, 10-
20% of which are destroyed or severely damaged. As of September
8, 1,600 people were in shelters. Most of Antigua's roads are
passable, garbage collection was restarted on September 9 and
commercial airline service has resumed. Ninety percent of
Barbuda's homes have been damaged. Of these, 50% sustained major
damage and 10% are destroyed. Phone service and electricity
continues to be out, however, as of September 7, water services
had been restored. In St. Kitts & Nevis, water has been
partially restored but electric power is still out in most areas.
Telephones are working. Most of Nevis' agricultural crops were
lost and there was considerable erosion of its beaches due to
storm surges.
Humanitarian Assistance: PAHO has issued an emergency health
appeal for $990,000 for Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis and
Montserrat. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies (IFRC) also has launched an appeal for
$1,163,934. In addition, PAHO, the United Nations Department of
Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA), the U.N. Development Program
(UNDP), the U.N. International Children's Emergency Fund
(UNICEF), several private sector and non-governmental agencies
and the Governments of the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia,
Trinidad & Tobago, the United Kingdom, the United States and
Canada have contributed cash, technical support, food and non-
food emergency assistance through means other than PAHO's or
IFRC's appeals.
U.S. Government (USG) Assistance: The U.S. Ambassador in
Barbados, who is accredited to each independent Eastern Caribbean
state, declared a disaster on September 5 for Hurricane Luis for
the islands of Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis and Dominica.
On the same day, BHR/OFDA dispatched $25,000 to the Embassy. A
BHR/OFDA-funded airlift of relief commodities arrived in Antigua
on September 7 at 2:50 pm EDT. The 40,000-pound shipment, worth
$140,000 including transport, contained 4,500 blankets, four
3,000-gallon water containers, 1,000 five-gallon water jugs, four
chain saws, 400 pairs of gloves, 100 tents and 240,000 sq. ft. of
plastic sheeting to be used as temporary shelter. On September
6, the Ambassador declared a second disaster for St. Kitts &
Nevis for which BHR/OFDA provided another $25,000. A second
BHR/OFDA 50,000-pound airlift of 1,875 blankets and 739,296 sq.
ft. of plastic sheeting, worth approximately $130,000 including
transport, arrived in Antigua at 9:00 am EDT on September 9. The
shipment also included communications equipment. A third 65,000-
pound relief flight for Antigua, St. Kitts & Nevis, worth
$142,104 including transport, will arrive today. It is
anticipated that the airlift will arrive at 12:00 pm EDT on
September 11 and will consist of 856,800 sq. ft. of plastic
sheeting, approximately 2,750 blankets, 1,000 five-gallon water
jugs, four chain saws, and 216 pairs of gloves from BHR/OFDA
stockpiles. The shipment also includes commodities donated by the
American Red Cross, including 296 cots, 1,250 blankets and 96,000
sq. ft. of plastic sheeting. Some of this shipment's plastic
sheeting will be used to repair the roofs of hospitals in St.
Kitts & Nevis.
BHR/OFDA Humanitarian Assistance FY 1995 . . . . . . . . . . .$462,100
distributed by
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