The International Federation of Red Cross Societies and the Red Crescent (IFRC) launched an emergency appeal this Friday to raise $18 million for Cuba after the passage of powerful Hurricane Melissa.
The IFRC explained in a statement that it is about reinforcing the actions of the Cuban Red Cross, which expects to have to assist some 100,000 people due to the effects of this hurricane, which made landfall in the east with category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and given “the current outbreak” of dengue, oropouche and chikungunya throughout the island.
The action plan has a planned duration of two years and will be developed in three phases: immediate humanitarian response, early recovery and long-term resilience.
“This emergency appeal is essential to raise the funds needed to help the Cuban people,” said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain, adding that Melissa left “immense devastation” and that recovery “will take months, perhaps years.”
Previous works
The Cuban Red Cross began working in the eastern end of the country before Melissa passed, already transferring 1,000 family emergency kits with hygiene and kitchen items to the region.
The organization aims to provide tool kits, mattresses, blankets, kitchen utensils and solar lamps to improve the living conditions of those affected by Melissa.
It also plans to strengthen domestic water treatment and hygiene promotion, as well as the distribution of purification kits and hygiene supplies, and the rehabilitation of community water systems.
With the resources raised, the Red Cross also wants to “prevent and reduce the transmission of diseases associated with the impact of the hurricane and the arbovirus outbreak that the country is simultaneously facing and which includes the dengue, oropouche and chikungunya viruses.”
As conditions allow, the organization added, the operation in eastern Cuba will move to the reconstruction and recovery phase, supporting the repair and reconstruction of homes through roofing kits, tools and training.
Melissa made landfall in Cuba at dawn last Wednesday in the southeast of the country and left seven hours later in the northeast, accompanied by winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour and rains that left up to 400 millimeters in some points.
The hurricane has caused massive power outages, destruction of homes and infrastructure, obstruction of roads, widespread communications problems, severe flooding and extensive damage to agriculture. At the moment there is no preliminary damage assessment by the Cuban Government and no personal injuries have been reported.
Efe/OnCuba.
