The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross has begun providing Humanitarian assistance to those affected by the passage of Hurricane Tomas. During the last two days the Society has assisted approximately 100 families with care packages inclusive of clothing, tarpaulin, blankets and hygiene kits and will continue to assist over the coming days.
Before the Hurricane, President of SVG Red Cross, Mr. Bernard Marksman by way of a press message, alerted all members, Volunteers, RITs and NITs to be on standby. As the storm monitoring continued many Volunteers braved the dangerous conditions transporting sick persons to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital and Shelters. They worked as shelter managers, assisted in feeding persons at shelters, provided First aid and medical assistance during and after the storm.
There are some 1194 persons in shelter, damages sustained by homes range from slight damage to total destruction, 90% of the agriculture industry is severely affected and many Farmers are unsure how they are going to survive in the coming weeks.
Even while offering assistance to the Vincentian public the Red Cross headquarters is in need of urgent repairs as a result of damages sustain to its roof. While this has impacted the operations of the local Red Cross the organization continues to offer humanitarian services to those most in need.
