|
UN: UN
RUSHES AID AHEAD OF ANTICIPATED DAMAGE WREAKED BY HURRICANE FELIX:
05/9/2007 (MaximsNews.com, U.N.) |
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./
- 05 September 2007 –
The United Nations has begun deploying aid and assistance to the areas in
Central America expected to suffer from the destruction that Hurricane Felix –
which made landfall in Nicaragua yesterday morning – could leave in its wake.
The UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that Nicaraguan authorities suspended school in
the town of Bilwi and evacuated other local communities, while temporary
shelters have been built on higher ground in the area where the hurricane, which
has since been downgraded from Category 5, struck. The agency estimates that as
many as 50,000 families in the country could be affected by the hurricane.
“What
we are really concerned about is the communities further north, because they are
very isolated indigenous communities,” said UNICEF Representative in Nicaragua
Debora Comini. “The living conditions are very basic and there’s no
infrastructure to withstand this kind of wind and rain.”
The
agency said that warnings and evacuations have been announced in all countries
potentially impacted by Hurricane Felix and that pre-positioned water, shelter,
water treatment stations and first aid kits are ready if necessary.
Ms.
Comini predicted that water and sanitation could be severely affected, and also
noted that food distribution will be crucial in the long-term as “many of the
crops are likely to be ruined.”
The UN
World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it will send emergency teams and that
it has enough food stocks in the region to feed 600,000 people for one month.
“Right
now Hurricane Felix is a moving target and it’s difficult to predict with
precision which countries will ultimately bear the impact of its destructive
force,” said WFP Deputy Regional Director Gordana Jerger. “The result is
that we have to be extremely flexible in our planning and to expect the worst.
We just can’t take chances.”
WFP is
prepared to transport both staff and supplies via air and by land, basing a key
operational centre in El Salvador, where the agency’s sub-regional logistics
base is located, and in Panama, home to its regional office. It is also
considering using a ship to transport supplies along the coast of Honduras and
Belize.
The
region has already been battered by heavy rains and there are concerns that
widespread landslides, such as those resulting from 2005’s Hurricane Stan, may
occur, which could make roads inoperable and impede aid efforts.
WFP
fears that Belize City could sustain as much damage as it did by Hurricane
Hattie in 1961, which leveled 40 per cent of all buildings. The agency continues
to provide assistance to 5,000 people in Belize in the wake of Hurricane Dean
two weeks ago, distributing two-month rations of rise, pulses, high energy
biscuits, vegetable oil and salt.
The UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today sent a
six-member UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team to Honduras in
support of the world body’s Country Team and the local Government to
coordinate international assistance and assess urgent needs, UN spokesperson
Michele Montas told reporters in New York.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
~~~~~
MaximsNews.com, An Independent Voice from the
U.N., provides commentary and analysis from
leading world figures: King Abdullah II
(Jordan), HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein
(Jordan), Sir Brian Urquhart, Hans Blix, Amb.
Richard Holbrooke, Anwar Ibrahim, Bianca Jagger,
Dr. Nafis Sadik, Shashi Tharoor, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Noeleen Heyzer, Kerry
Kennedy, Ian Williams, Stephen Schlesinger, Sen.
Timothy E. Wirth, Marc Morial, Amb. Jayantha
Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), Amb. Pierre Schori
(Sweden), Amb. William H. Luers, Susan Roosevelt
Weld, Rory Kennedy, Mehri
Madarshahi, J. Michael Adams, Gloria Feldt,
Jeffrey Laurenti, Rodney D. Smith, Ashley
Bommer, Rory
O'Connor, Genevieve Stamper, Max Stamper and
others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MaximsNews Network® LLC is a Global News Network reaching over 30,000 in the International Community. It is associated with MediaChannel.org and Globalvision News Network, global news and media information services with more than 350 news affiliates in 135 countries.
MaximsNews®LLC is in partnership with the United Nations Foundation and the Better World Fund.
Established in 1999.
The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of MaximsNews®
LLC.
MaximsNews.com
U.N. ® LLC News for the United Nations and the International Community -
www.MaximsNews.com
| MaximsNews@MaximsNews.com |
Please
contact us about Republishing:
Syndication@MaximsNews.com ©Copyrights 1999 - 2007, MaximsNews® LLC. All rights
reserved.
|
