A plane carrying 20 tons of humanitarian aid from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) landed in Cuba to assist those affected by the powerful Hurricane Melissa.
As reported this Monday by the IFRC in a statement, the flight landed the day before at the Santiago de Cuba airport, one of the cities most affected by this hurricane that crossed the eastern end of the island last Wednesday as a category 3 (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
The cargo, which seeks to guarantee a “rapid and quality humanitarian response,” is made up of kitchen, hygiene and rest kits, blankets, mosquito nets, solar lamps, tool kits and plastic tarps.
Hygiene supplies and mosquito nets are “essential for preventing diseases in contexts where access to water and sanitation has been interrupted,” said the IFRC, which had previously referred to the current outbreak of dengue, oropouche and chikungunya on the island.
Added to this first shipment is the emergency appeal for raise 18 million dollars to assist 100 thousand people over the next two years in Cuba.
Red Cross and support for Cuba after Hurricane Melissa
“This emergency appeal is essential to raise the necessary funds to help the Cuban people,” said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain at the time.
The manager added that Melissa left “immense devastation” and that recovery “will take months, maybe years.”
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 (or liters per square meter) in some points.
The hurricane has caused complex evacuations, massive power outages, destruction of homes and public infrastructure due to floods and landslides, widespread communications problems and extensive damage to agriculture.
At the moment there is no preliminary damage assessment by the cuban governmentwhich so far has not reported any personal injuries.
The Red Cross seeks to raise 18 million dollars for Cuba after the passage of Melissa
