ACT Alert

Caribbean - 1/2004

Hurricane Ivan

Geneva, 10 September, 2004

Hurricane Ivan, the third hurricane of the month, is roaring through the Caribbean causing devastation. Ivan is moving towards the west threatening Jamaica and Cuba with winds that have reached 220 km/h.

According to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA). Ivan has hit Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada so far. The worst hit island is Grenada, where the death toll was 17 and the damages, according to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, were 85%. Power lines are down and hundreds of people are in refuge shelters. Grenada is an island nation of 90,000 inhabitants.

ACT member, the Caribbean Council of Churches (CCC) is appealing to its member churches in the region for immediate contributions to respond to the situation, which will be channeled through CDERA for logistical reasons. CCC is waiting to make contact with its member in Grenada to start assessing the situation.

ACT member, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) program in Haiti reports that they are prepared to respond to possible effects of Hurricane Ivan. LWF reports that OCHA has already organized an evaluation team for a quick assessment of the impacts and that ACT Haiti will be participating in this mission with two persons.

ACT member, the Cuban Council of Churches (CIC), who is already involved in responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Charley, reports that the country is following the development of Hurricane Ivan and preparing itself for a new destruction.

The ACT CO is trying to make contact with its ACT member in Jamaica, the Jamaica Council of Churches, to assess the situation in this country.