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ACT Update
Dominican Republic/Haiti
- 01/2004
[Earlier Alerts-Updates: 28 May I 27 May I 26 May ]
Floods and Landslides
Geneva, 1 June,
2004
In spite of difficulties, the searching for victims and delivery
of relief items continues in the areas devastated by the floods and
landslides last week in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
ACT member in Haiti, Lutheran World Federation (LWF), reports
that on Friday, May 28, food and non-food relief items were delivered
to Thiotte for 275 families. LWF hired a helicopter to deliver relief
items in bigger quantities. LWF staff on the ground, in co-ordination
with FOPLAB (a local partner), are carrying out the distribution.
Local partners played a crucial role in identifying secure locations
for the storage of food, water, clothing and hygiene materials. LWF
is co-ordinating the assessment activities with Concern World-wide
and German Agro-Action. A team of three persons was in the area for
36 hours assessing the damages and working in co-ordination with the
local Civil Protection committee and local partners. Priority needs
have been identified as food, water, clothing, hygiene and household
kits for displaced families. The distribution of the above mentioned
items will start today. Plans are underway to co-ordinate with UN/NGOs
to extend the size of the assessment area to include some outlying
districts in the coming days.
According to the latest reports, the number of deaths in Haiti caused
by the floods has risen to 1,073. However, it is feared that this
number might increase as there are still an estimated 1,500 persons
missing in the area of Mapou. Health problems related to the buried
livestock and bodies is one of the major concerns in this area. On
May 27 an 4.4 earthquake occurred in the flood-affected areas, but
no damages were reported.
Additional to the US$50,000 from the ACT Rapid Response Fund (RRF),
LWF has received support from the local German Embassy (US$58,000),
German Agro-Action (US$23,200) and ICCA (US$1,500). A journalist from
ACT Netherlands-ICCO delegation is already in the area. Emergency
staff from CWS will arrive today to help ACT Haiti with the preparation
of an ACT appeal, and a staff member of Christian Aid will arrive
on June 3.
ACT member in the Dominican Republic, Social Service of the Dominican
Churches (SSID), reports that the floods affected not only
Jimani but many other communities. The Dominican authorities have
finalised the search for victims, and the official death toll is 392
while there are still 270 persons missing. The number of destroyed
houses is estimated at 700, and the affected population 3,000. SSID,
with the initial resources received, will continue distributing relief
items in the area through its local partners. SSID reports that it
will continue assessing the situation to prepare a plan to support
the affected communities in the reconstruction and rehabilitation
phase.
Church of Sweden, ACT Netherlands, Norwegian Church Aid, the Methodist
Relief & Dev. Fund (U.K.), the Week of Compassion Office of the
Christian Church-Disciples (USA), Diakonie Emergency Aid (Germany),
Christian Aid (U.K.) and UMCOR (USA) have already announced their
support for the forthcoming appeal.
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