Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Belize

Belize: Situation Report No 6 - Emergencies October 2008

1.-Current Situation

COPECO continues with the distribution of humanitarian aid to all of those affected due to the heavy rains. Today the Council of Government Ministries has been meeting to discuss and develop a rehabilitation and reconstruction plan.

As of today October 27th, the government reports the following damages:

Affected people
271,179
Evacuated people
42,234
Directly affected people
57,681
People in shelters
42,699
Affected houses
10,426
Death people
33
Desaparead people
16
Roads affected
256 (50% of total, affected for flooding and landslides)
Agriculture damaged
100,000 Mz
Departments affected
17 out of 18
Counties affected
114 (40%) out of 298
Population without power energy
150,000 (in the Department of Olancho)



Weather conditions:
A strong cold front has entered the country and moves along the North Coast and will be affecting the Caribbean Sea and the Bay Island during the next 36 to 48 hours.

Forecast:
The cold front will bring cloudy days and some moderate rain in the insular region, especially in the North of Honduras. The precipitation will range between 50 to 60 mm in the next 24 hours.

Alerts:
The RED ALERT remains in the Counties of Corquín and Cucuyagua in Copan Department; and Belén Gualcho in Ocotepeque Department; and Cortes Department. YELLOW ALERT will remain in the Central District of Francisco Morazán. GREEN ALERT stays in the Departments of Bay Islands, Atlántida, Colon and Santa Barbara. The rest of the country remains without any type of alert.

2. Coordination

- The two evaluating missions in the field have already returned and presented the reports about their findings.
- The UN System is in the process of reviewing the draft of the CERF and Flash Appeal proposals. Very likely tomorrow a presentation of both Appeals will be made to the government
- UNDAC made a presentation to the local authorities showing the results of the work the UN has been doing regarding this emergency.
- World Food Programme has assisted so far 15,091 families with a total of 330.979 metric tons of food aid.
- As a response to the request of the Ministry of Heath, UNFPA, head quarters, has approved an amount of US $50,000 to assist reproductive and maternal health.
- The USA Government through OCHA has provided US$ 58,200 to procure non food items.

Contact details:
UNETT : unete.hn@undp.org Juan José Ferrando. juan.ferrando@undp.org Mobile: +504 9608-0149
UNDAC Team Leader Marco Rodriguez. rodriguez38@un.org Mobile: +504 9970-2627