Panama: Hurricane Eta DREF Operation n° MDRPA013 - Final Report

A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

Tropical storm Eta, which formed in the Atlantic on the night of 31 October 2020, became a hurricane as it passed over the central Caribbean Sea some 835 km northeast of the Panamanian city of Colón (Colón province). Eta made landfall in Nicaragua as a category 4 hurricane on 3 November 2020, and while Eta did not make landfall in Panama, the country experienced heavy rains, floods, and landslides.

On 4 November 2020, the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC) declared a yellow alert for the province of Chiriquí following reports of several incidents in the Tierras Altas district, specifically in the towns of Cerro Punta, Paso Ancho and Volcán. All emergency response institutions were on alert as a result.

Collateral effects from the rain bands related to the tropical storm were reported in Chiriquí, Bocas del Toro, Comarca Ngäbe Buglé, Veraguas, Coclé, and Panamá Oeste in western Panama. More than 300 mm of accumulated rain was reported in most of the affected areas, and flooding of the Chiriquí Viejo, Fonseca, Jacú, and Tabasará rivers. All rivers in Chiriquí province reached their highest levels, causing severe flooding, landslides, road blockages, collapsed and destroyed roads, fallen trees, and damaging and destroying homes. The floods damaged agricultural lands as well.

The President of the Republic of Panama activated the Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) to enable all entities to jointly coordinate the response and assistance necessary to maintain a contingency front. On 7 November, the government declared an emergency in Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Coclé, Herrera, and Comarca Ngäbe Buglé. State sources had reported 19 people dead and 12 missing due to the emergency as of 13 November, as well 918 people rescued and evacuated through the joint task force.

The government set up official collective centres to assist the evacuated population. All people in collective centres were tested for COVID-19, and those who tested positive were housed in hotels and other places.

The Panamanian government opened 29 temporary collective centres in Chiriquí province, providing shelter to 3,843 people. As of 7 November, the Ministry of Housing and Land Use Planning had reported 999 homes damaged by floods, landslides and collapsed roofs, mostly in Comarca Ngäbe Buglé (597) and Chiriquí (248). Water sources, including water production sites, were also severely affected.

Panama has been experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020, with a 14-day cumulative incidence of 234 cases per 100,000 inhabitants as of 9 November. Lockdown measures have been recently eased, and trade blocs have been re-established to facilitate economic recovery. Face masks are mandatory, and a daily curfew is in place from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am.

As of 18 November 2020, the WASH lines of action in the operational plan included deployment, operation, and maintenance of a water treatment plant. DANA actions included in assessments identified many people with no access to safe water; however, the rivers' high turbidity levels due to continued rainfall at their source made it impossible to put into operation the water treatment plant that was initially contemplated. Furthermore, the communities of Corotú Civil and Majagual do not have access to drinking water. Residents get their water from boreholes, which were flooded and contaminated with coliforms.

Summary of the response

Overview of Host National Society Response Action

The Panamanian Red Cross (PRC) alerted 23 local committees in ten provinces across the country, activating volunteers with specialized training.

The Panamanian Red Cross is made up of 88 administrative staff and 1,200 active volunteers. Seven volunteer members of the Regional Intervention Team (RIT) and 80 members of the national response teams (Health, Water and Sanitation, General, PSS, Livelihoods and Migration) were activated; 15 volunteer members of the Search and Rescue team were deployed along with a team to identify and register people in affected communities using the Open Data Kit (ODK).

PRC initially deployed one five-volunteer rescue unit from Panama province to provide support, one assessment specialist, two PSS specialists, 11 immediate response team volunteers, one Restoring Family Links (RFL) specialist, and four additional volunteers support RFL activities, and one emergency medical technician. All of them joined in the efforts being carried out by volunteers from the Barú, Boquete, and Tierras Alta's committees assisting with the site.

Between 5 and 11 November 2020, 100 volunteers were maintained in rotation at PRC headquarters in Panama province. It functioned as a centre to collect food for affected people, and 50 volunteers were kept on-site in Chiriquí province to assist with local response. The Panamanian Red Cross responded to its local committees in the Chiriquí area (Barú, Boquete, Bugaba, and David) and its national headquarters and three volunteers and administrative staff tasked with providing strategic coordination, finance, and logistics support.

The National Society's EOC remained active, operational, and fully staffed and track, monitor, and analyse information. Thanks to the strengthening achieved through the Preparedness for Effective Response (PER) process, it had both the area and equipment to do so.

• PRC conducted the following actions as part of its initial response to the event: Delivered first aid assistance to people in collective centres.

• Assisted with search and rescue, first aid, and evacuations.

• Activated the National Society's Emergency Operations Centre.

• Launched a campaign to collect food for affected people.

• Created and launched a fundraising campaign over PRC's social media accounts.

• Coordinated with authorities, including participation in province EOCs.

• Deployed eight vehicles to the field to support actions.

• Distributed humanitarian aid (water, blankets, and biosafety equipment) for people in collective centres.

• Posted reports on the GO platform.

During the emergency, the National Society worked closely with State emergency teams and the Presidency's joint Task Force.

During the first response phase, the Panamanian Red Cross provided humanitarian assistance to affected communities in the form of food aid distributions, PPE to protect against COVID-19 in collective centres and communities, psychosocial support (PSS) kits, jerrycans, water, cleaning kits, hygiene kits, blankets, kitchen kits and shelter tool kits, assisting more than 600 families.

Several actions included a community awareness component aimed at children and older adults, disseminating health and hygiene promotion messages via recreational activities involving social dynamization. PSS and RFL interventions were carried out in collective centres and communities and cleaned of wells, and child- and teenfriendly spaces were created in communities.

Given these scenarios, PRC consulted the disaster management coordinator assigned by IFRC at the beginning of the emergency regarding the feasibility of revising the line of action in the explanatory/narrative part while maintaining the same allocated budget for the items necessary to assist the beneficiary communities.

PRC is currently implementing two additional emergency operations:

• IFRC Emergency Appeal for the Americas: COVID-19 (MDRCOVID-19), aligned with the IFRC worldwide Emergency Appeal

• IFRC Emergency Appeal for the Americas: Population Movement (MDR42004), with actions in Darién province.

Overview of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement Actions

The IFRC Americas Regional Office (ARO) and the Regional Logistics Unit (RLU) are both located in Panama. The PRC coordinated its actions with ARO's Disaster and Crises Prevention, Response and Recovery (DCPRR) unit, which provided technical support and coordination for this emergency response. IFRC's RLU provided logistical support to the PRC collection centre through logistics equipment and human resources trained in warehouse management.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is also present in the country, providing technical advice on the Safer Access Framework and Restoring Family Links (RFL) as well as on issues related to humanitarian diplomacy and advocacy as part of the National Society's interaction with the country's authorities. American Red Cross and Canadian Red Cross are also present in Panama through their regional delegations, and both National Societies are in contact with PRC.

Overview of non-RCRC actors’ actions

The Government of Panama launched "Operación Patria", a three-phase operation to respond to the emergency. Led by the Ministry of Public Security, the first phase focused on response, i.e., restoration of basic services, first aid, damage assessment, the opening of collective centres, and provision of humanitarian aid.

The Government launched the Panama Solidario Plan, with a budget of 72 million dollars to procure the food aid delivered to affected families. The government also launched a donation campaign to enable the population to provide humanitarian aid. As of November 7, 1,700 tonnes of aid had been sent to affected areas.

As part of the actions, the National Air and Naval Service (SENAN) provided operational support through sea and air logistics to reach secluded areas. The Government arranged for the use of two cargo planes with the Colombian Air Force to establish an airlift between the district of David and Bocas del Toro province. In addition, Panama's Civil Aviation Authority arranged for two planes from David to Changuinola, establishing a communication line over the sea from Colón to Bocas del Toro with two SENAN barges. The United States Southern Command's Task Force Bravo also helped the Panamanian government provide air support to affected areas.

Other actions by the State include:

• SINAPROC focused its actions on establishing a national EOC, which was essential for coordinated efforts such as this one. SINAPROC also participated in search and rescue actions in affected areas.

• The Ministry of Health (MINSA) strengthened its network, sending staff to collective centres to perform rapid swab tests and promote the use of face masks, maintaining family 'bubbles' and frequent handwashing.
  MINSA maintained security protocols in communities, and collective centres with identified cases.

• The Ministry of Public Works worked on repairing roads that had collapsed and were damaged by floods and landslides, particularly highways in mountainous areas in Bajo and Alto Boquete, Llanos de Gualaca and Cerrón de Renacimiento in Chiriquí province.

• IDAAN stabilized the system and restored operations at the Chiriquí water treatment plants that supply drinking water to the area.

• The Ministry of Education, in coordination with municipal authorities, assisted with the opening of 16 collective centres in Barú, Boquete, Besikó (Comarca Ngäbe Buglé), Gualaca, Tierras Altas, and Bugaba. It also collaborated with 72 Regional Directorate of Education units (teaching and administrative).