Hurricane Dean Aftermath: WFP Assisting Over 10,000 Victims In Jamaica And Belize

As victims of Hurricane Dean slowly try to rebuild their
shattered lives, the World Food Programme announced that its
emergency feeding operations are assisting about 10,500 of the worst
affected in Jamaica and Belize.



"While Hurricane Dean may have vanished from the front pages of the
newspapers, the reality of its destructive power remains for thousands of
very poor people who must begin to put their lives back together," said
Carlo Scaramella, who is managing WFP's regional response to Belize. "WFP's
emergency food rations are a key first step that will ensure these people
can begin the process of rebuilding."



In Jamaica, a total of 5,500 people will receive complementary food
assistance which will consist of a 450 kcal ration per day of High-Energy
Biscuits (HEBs) for two weeks. The victims are part of more than 30,000
people whose livelihoods have been affected when 200 km/h winds damaged
housing, infrastructure and crops in the southern and south-eastern part
of
the island.



An additional 5,000 people in Belize will receive a full daily ration
which
will continue for a period of two months and which will consist of rice,
pulses, vegetable oil, and HEBs. All of the beneficiaries suffered a
dramatic loss in their livelihoods means.



The cost of the emergency response is US$256,131 which will be paid out of
WFP's Immediate Response Account - a special revolving fund that WFP can
draw on to provide a swift response to emergencies without having to wait
for donor contributions.



In both cases, preparation before the storm and prompt action afterwards
by
WFP regional emergency team enabled supplies flow quickly to those
affected. A critical role in the response was played by WFP's Regional
Centre for Humanitarian Response, recently established in El Salvador,
where food and other equipment supplies are stored. For Jamaica the
response was coordinated through the WFP Caribbean emergency hub in
Barbados with crucial support from the WFP Country Office in Haiti.



"What has been extremely important is that at the regional level today we
have in place an emergency response team as well as emergency food
supplies
that we can deploy at a moment's notice," said WFP Deputy Regional
Director
Gordana Jerger.



"Given that the region faces a future of weather-related disasters whose
intensity and number may well increase in number and intensity, the role
of
our sub-regional centres will become even more critical to saving lives
and
ensuring a swift humanitarian response," Jerger added.



WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: on average, each year, we
give food to 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs,
including 58 million hungry children, in 80 of the world's poorest
countries. WFP - We Feed People.

wfp