The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) donated half a million dollars to Nicaragua on Tuesday to deal with the damage caused by Hurricane Julia, which crossed the country on October 9.
“The board of directors approved a non-reimbursable emergency cooperation of half a million dollars, to help efforts to save lives and protect those who have suffered from the passage of the hurricane,” said CABEI’s executive president, Dante Mossi, during a visit to Nicaragua on the occasion of the announcement.
The Government of Nicaragua calculates the damage caused by Julia at 300 million dollars, about 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The cyclone impacted the Caribbean coast with hurricane force 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and then crossed from east to west with tropical storm force.
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The government calculations could vary, since the Executive has insisted that the damage reports, which had initially been established between 160 million and 200 million dollars, are preliminary.
Until now, the Nicaraguan authorities have reported that Julia caused damage to road, social, energy and telecommunications infrastructure; Some 15,000 homes were affected and 20,000 people had to be evacuated, in 123 of the 153 municipalities of the Central American country.
The Government of Nicaragua has also reported that it is making financing and cooperation efforts to deal with the losses caused by Julia.
