Red Cross responds to 'Wilma' on Grand Bahama

Hurricane Wilma, the 12th hurricane and 21st named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, battered Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Cuba, the state of Florida in the United States, and the Bahamas between 20 and 24 October, causing widespread destruction.

By the afternoon of Monday 24th, the hurricane had moved out into the Atlantic Ocean, causing heavy rains and flooding in the northern islands of the Bahamas.

In total, at least 24 people were killed during Wilma’s march across the Caribbean: 11 in Haiti, 1 in Jamaica, 6 in Mexico, 6 in Florida and 1 in the Bahamas.

Although, in relation to the Bahamas, it was forecasted that the Central and Northern islands would be affected, namely Bimini, Berry Islands, Abaco, New Providence and Grand Bahama it was Grand Bahama and Bimini which received the brunt of the hurricane, with Abaco, New Providence and Berry Islands receiving minor damages mostly to trees, and utility poles.

Soon after the hurricane force winds subsided the President, Director General and other volunteers of the Bahamas RC travelled to the affected areas of Grand Bahama and Bimini to carry out a preliminary damage assessment.

Director General Marina Glinton said “President Gerald Sawyer and I did a rapid assessment immediately after the hurricane to determine the required level of Red Cross response.

From our observations on the extensive damage on the island of Grand Bahama, we determined that the needs were so huge that we requested to be included under the International Federation’s Hurricane ‘Wilma’ Appeal for Central America.”

On Grand Bahama, of the 47,000 population, approximately 7,000 persons have been affected. One child is known to have perished due to a sea surge. More than 1,000 persons have been evacuated to shelters in Freeport. Electricity and telephone services have been disrupted in most of Grand Bahama.

Samuel Cooper, Chairman of the RC Centre on Grand Bahama said “The local communities in the Western and Southern districts of Grand Bahama have been devastated by hurricane ‘Wilma’. People have not only lost their personal belongings but their homes as well.

“Hurricanes do not differentiate between the young or the old, the houses or the shops, the churches or the community halls, they are indiscriminate in their impact. The local Red Cross has mobilized all its available resources to assist those most affected.”

The Island of Bimini is divided into two - North and South with a total population of 1,717. This small island suffered significant damages to homes, trees and utility poles due to heavy rains and sea surge. Most of the residents who had moved to shelters have now returned to their homes.

The Bahamas RC has embarked on a three-month relief programme to deliver food and non-food items to most affected of the population. Of the estimated 3,500 affected families the Bahamas Red Cross Society will cover the needs for 1,000 families (5,000 persons).

The areas being targeted include districts in the west and south of Grand Bahama Island which were the worst areas hit by storms and sea-surges.

Some minor assistance will be provided to affected people on the islands of Abaco and Bimini but the main relief effort will be conducted on Grand Bahama Island.

The relief effort for Abaco and Bimini will be co-ordintated by the Bahamas Red Cross headquarters in Nassau while the local Red Cross Centre will manage the relief operation on Grand Bahama.

While the NS will distribute building materials, which resulted from an unsolicited donation, it will not become involved in major reconstruction projects as it does not have the resources or expertise in this area.

The network of RC volunteers will carry out physical assessment using the ‘Damage Assessment – Needs Analysis Form’ to identify the most needy households in the worst affected areas.

Due to the various assessments in progress the NS will issue vouchers for water to families during their assessment process as many households are suffering from ‘assessment fatigue’ without receiving any assistance.

All RC personnel involved in the assessment process will be issued with Red Cross badges for identification purposes. Already immediate response distributions are being carried out based on rapid assessments by staff from the Grand Bahama RC Centre.

Through support from the International Federation’s Regional Delegation, the Sub-Regional Office in Port of Spain and the Pan American Disaster Response Unit in Panama, the Bahamas RC will distribute standard Federation hygienic kits, plastic sheeting, blankets and jerry cans.

Food items, blankets, health kits, tarpaulins and water, which were shipped in a 40ft container by the Bahamas Red Cross headquarters in Nassau from their disaster contingency stock, will also be immediately distributed.

Assessment findings will be cross-checked with beneficiary lists from the Department of Social Welfare in order to eliminate duplicate or overlapping distributions.

A rapid assessment carried out by the President and Director General of the Bahamas RC on the Grand Bahama Island in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, identified approximately 3,500 households as being affected to varying degrees.

The RC action will target 1,000 of the worst affected families based on the ‘Damage Assessment-Needs Analysis’ form findings as carried out by local trained RC volunteers.

The remaining 2,500 families will receive assistance from other organizations and governmental institutions.

There is growing concern for the health and sanitation in some communities as fresh water is not widely available as most natural water sources are contaminated due to the seas-surges.

An additional problem arose in some of the districts where coffins in local graveyards, which are on the seashore, became dislodged and broken-open during the storms and sea-surges.

The Grand Bahama RC office has submitted a proposal to NEMA for the co-ordination of relief supplies management and logistics services.

This has been determined as an immediate response need for overall co-ordination of the relief response and various bodies, such as the Port Authority, have approached the RC in order to channel their donated goods and services through the Red Cross distribution network.

As part of the relief response the Grand Bahama Red Cross Centre will source and contract a warehouse in Freeport as a central distribution point which will service the 15 district distribution points.

The monitoring and evaluation will be done by the Grand Bahama Red Cross Centre staff and volunteers, and will be co-ordinated by the Relief Co-ordinator who has been specifically contracted to manage the relief operation.

Cathy Wells, Relief Co-ordinator: “I have been tasked with co-ordinating the relief response operation in the aftermath of hurricane ‘Wilma’. From our experiences with previous hurricanes during past ten years, including hurricanes Jeanne and Francis during 2004, we are more effective in our response to ‘Wilma’. Our operation will deliver essential relief items such as hygienic kits, tarpaulins, blankets and jerry cans as an immediate response.”

The network of Red Cross volunteers throughout the island will be mobilized to assist in the distributions.

There are two volunteers and one staff member who have completed the Federation’s National Intervention Teams (NITS) training and they will be specifically responsible for evaluation and reporting.