UNDP is supporting disaster management
and relief efforts in Antigua, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands
Antilles and St. Kitts and Nevis after Hurricane Georges claimed over 250
lives and left over 100,000 homeless. UNDP is allocating funds to help
coordinate disaster response and to recruit emergency personnel. In St.
Kitts and Nevis, about 50 per cent of the islanders' homes were damaged
and 20 per cent destroyed. In Cuba, the hurricane cut a wide swath of destruction
across the country, says Alberto Perez, UNDP public affairs officer in
Havana. "It destroyed important banana plantations and coffee crops,
and flattened sugar cane fields. It has caused severe flooding in low-lying
areas and knocked-out electricity and communications," Mr. Perez said.
The government's precautions to protect people helped keep casualties very
low, he added. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) sent an assessment team to Haiti last week. Similar missions to
other affected countries are expected shortly.
For more information contact
Trygve Olfarnes, UNDP/DPA, (1 212) 906-6606.