Mexico: Tabasco and Chiapas Floods OCHA Situation Report No. 6

This situation report is based on information received from United Nations Resident Coordinators in country and OCHA Regional Office in Panama.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Federal Government through the Civil Protection System has declared that the search and rescue phase has come to an end and is now moving into rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The affected population based on the initial estimates from the Civil Protection is of over 330,000 people for all Chiapas.

SITUATION

1. The water level continues to recede with pumps being employed in a 24/7 effort. According to the state governing body in Tabasco, it is estimated that 8 million cubic meters have to be drained; currently they are pumping water at a rate of 12,6 cubic meters/sec. In Villahermosa, the centre of town is expected to be dry in 4 days. A total of 57 pumps are currently at work.

2 The Federal government through the Civil Protection System has declared that the search and rescue phase has come to an end and are moving into rehabilitation and reconstruction.

3. Entities involved in aid delivering agree that actions are now focused in fulfilling the needs of groups on vulnerable situation such as women, children and the elder. Emotional and psychosocial needs starting to rise. Notwithstanding the current situation of the population gathered in shelters, reports of violence, robberies and disturbs are still an important issue.

4. Authorities are worried about the potential of outbreaks at this stage of the emergency. Helicopter flights have been reduced by 70% and from now on assistance is expected to arrive everywhere either by boat or land transportation.

5. The attention is currently focused in those communities away from Villahermosa where efforts have been reinforced in order to prevent outbreaks of diseases.

6. The Federal Government has responded with the deployment of 8,000 soldiers, 3,000 navy elements and over 2,000 policemen working in affected areas. Helicopters have been performing 4 to 5 missions, on average, per day distributing supplies and performing sporadic rescue operations.

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

7. The President of Mexico Felipe Calderon stated that 6,000 tons of food, blankets, clothes and basic provisions have been collected.

8. The UNCT continues to support the Federal and Local authorities by identifying the loopholes on the coordination capacities and the assistance distribution.

TABASCO

9. While the main humanitarian needs are well covered by the Government of Mexico, there are clear indications and direct requests for recovery related issues, such as restoring livelihoods, houses, and larger hydraulic schemes. The Government has set up temporary employment schemes. As the water keeps receding, people start to trickle out of the shelters to their homes, depending on the extent of damage they find.

10. The authorities are attempting to relocate people into the larger shelters, where they can benefit from the assistance provided and also improve the logistics of the distribution of assistance. There is some resistance to this, as families prefer to stay together and in smaller settings.

11. The Secretary of Health has organised various brigades to assess and assist in sanitation, water purification (chlorination), fumigation (prior to the disaster there was already an identified risk of dengue epidemic), epidemic control and vaccinations (hepatitis A, tetanus, diphtheria, flu, TB, etc).

12. A large contingent of doctors was deployed to attend to the affected population and every official shelter has a health facility. One of the areas of concern is psychosocial assistance and mental health care. UNICEF has indicated it would conduct a workshop with mental health specialists to address this need.

13. Health campaigns through media sources are helping to inform people how to reduce health risks. The Secretary of Health reported isolated cases of dengue (54 persons) and two unconfirmed cases of leptospirosis.

14. Waste generated by hospitals and healthcare clinics are being disposed of in a efficient and clean way. The normal procedure of collection of hospital waste, transport, treatment and disposal is functioning at pre-disaster level. No environmental threats are being reported.

15. The Department of Reproductive Health has set up three shelters, which focus on pregnant women. To date, 283 pregnant women have been registered, most of them lodged in these 3 specific shelters.

16. The education sector has been one of the most affected by the floods. Tabasco counts 5,302 schools, of which 2,067 are affected and 219 used as temporary shelters, according to the Government. Most affected are the schools in the centre of Villahermosa. The damage and loss of educational material requires special attention as well as some Page 2

psychosocial assistance to the school going population. In 5 municipalities in Tabasco, the schools are functioning again.

17. As per the Secretariat of Commerce, the normal supply chain (through normal channels) has been reestablished in 95% in Tabasco. The army is in charge of the distribution of assistance. Aid goes to logistics hubs and from there to distribution points. No problems or issues have been reported in this area.

18. The Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS in Spanish) estimated the damage around USD700 million just in Tabasco, and almost 20% of houses are insured. The Tabasco Authorities estimated the total cost of the damage in USD5 billion.

19. Under the coordination of local authorities and the support of SUMA/LSS experts, all donations arriving to Tabasco are being registered and classified in the Civil Protection general warehouse, other three main reception centers and the airport of Villa Hermosa, with exception of those operated by the military. Additional check points will be established in selected points of the main road accesses to Tabasco to register donations transported by land.