"Operation Breadfruit" is being coordinated through the office of the Director-General by Lawrence Marshall, the BRCS Director of Disaster Services. As of Wednesday, the dozen or so volunteers have distributed at least one hundred (100) tarpaulins to Barbadians whose house roofs were damaged by the heavy rain and gusty winds associated with the tropical storm.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasters say the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be near-normal. However, the IFRC is advising the public to prepare for the possibility of being hit by a storm.

It takes just one hurricane to provoke a humanitarian disaster. In 2008, the season was particularly devastating

For those who were affected by Tropical Storm Gustav which impacted the island of Jamaica on August 28-29, 2008, their needs were clear. Many persons, particularly those in the worst affected parishes of Portland, St. Mary, St. Catherine, Kingston & St. Andrew and St. Thomas, needed food, water and shelter.

But what about the 'not so clear' needs? The need to maintain proper personal hygiene, for example? The Jamaica Red Cross and UNFPA - the United Nations Population Fund have recognized

Hurricane Ike tore through the Caribbean on Sunday leaving behind mass devastation as the region tries recovery from storms Gustav and Hanna which has already caused severe death and destruction.

Ike, a powerful category four storm barreled through the Turks and Caicos islands with fierce winds and trains and tore roofs of homes and caused serious infrastructural damage. Emergency officials estimated 80 percent on Grand Turk have been destroyed or have lost roofs but the full extent of the damage is not yet known. South Caicos Islands

Just days after Hurricane Gustav caused mass destruction in the Caribbean, another storm Hanna is making its way through the region.

Hanna which was downgraded earlier in the day from a Category 1 hurricane had top wind speeds of 70 miles per hour (mph), according to the National Hurricane Centre. It eventually picked up some speed as it moved the northwest and is expected to pick up speed.

Hanna has already caused severe flooding in Haiti's port city of Gonaives, and according to authorities, rescue

The system became a named storm while over the Caymans. It was updated to a hurricane after leaving Cayman waters.

Heavy rains and strong gusts were experienced and due to the flatness of Grand Cayman, there was immediate concern about flooding in the densely populated area. Areas with poor drainage accumulated more than three feet of flood water.

CIRC Disaster Manager Hemant Balgobin,

The project is being implemented by the Jamaica Red Cross with funding and technical support provided by the European Commission (ECHO), the French Red Cross and the General Council of Guadeloupe.

The project will concentrate its interventions in Clarendon, St Elizabeth and St Catherine, three of the parishes which were most affected by the Hurricane.

Marina Glinton, Director General of the Bahamas Red Cross said the storm dropped 10 inches of rain on several islands on October 30 causing massive flooding.

"On Long Island, the water was five feet deep in the homes of the residents with 10,000 persons affected. On Exuma, 3,000 persons have been affected and on Cat Island another 3,000 persons are affected."

Areas on another island, New Providence,

The National Society played a pivotal role in the recovery process from response to rehabilitation.

When asked in a recent interview about the present situation of the Red Cross should it have to face and respond to any unforeseen events, Director General Terry Charles is confident that the experience of the Ivan operation has left both human and resource capital for the organization.

This has resulted in improved capacity