Jamaica Red Cross responds to Gustav

The Jamaica Red Cross (JRC) is playing its part in the national response to Tropical Storm Gustav which impacted the island on Thursday August 28 and Friday August 29, 2008.

The organization has been working closely with the Office of Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management (ODPEM) and other agencies to ensure that the needs of those most affected are met.

During and immediately after the passage of the storm, Jamaica Red Cross volunteers provided over 400 meals to persons in shelters and are currently conducting damage assessments and relief distribution.

“We are still in the process of conducting damage assessments along with other agencies working in the field, however based on the evolved needs so far, we have already distributed food and non food items to our branches to assist at least 200 families with further distributions planned,” mentioned Marcia Alexander, JRC Director of Emergency Services.

Mrs. Alexander added that through collaboration with ODPEM, food and non food items have been airlifted to areas in St. Andrew & St. Thomas which have been cut off.

She noted that prior to the storm, non food items were pre-positioned in the Red Cross branches which made it easier for them to distribute these items to affected persons as soon as possible.

Based on assessments conducted so far, the most affected parishes are Portland, Kingston & St. Andrew, St. Catherine, St. Mary and St. Thomas with flooding being the most prominent effect.

The most urgent needs are for food and water, as well as tarpaulins, hygiene kits, kitchen kits, jerry cans (water containers) and materials to repair or replace living quarters.

So far, the Jamaica Red Cross has dispatched to its branches for distribution over 250 food packages, 576 tarpaulins, 481 hygiene kits, 426 kitchen kits, 475 blankets and over 261 jerry cans.

The Jamaica Red Cross has also been responding to the psychosocial needs of affected persons as well. Members of the organization’s Psychosocial Support Programme have visited and will continue to visit affected areas and conduct counselling sessions.

A Disaster Management delegate from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Pan American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU) was deployed here in Jamaica to assist with coordination.

Meanwhile the International Federation has launched an emergency appeal to assist relief efforts in Jamaica as well as Cuba and Haiti, which were also affected by the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav.

The Jamaica Red Cross continues to work with its other partners in the field both locally and internationally to ensure that the needs of the most vulnerable are met in the aftermath of Gustav and to safeguard the vulnerable from the threat of other impending storms.

The Red Cross, in its disaster response activities aims to “reduce the number of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters,” one of the International Federation’s four Global Agenda Goals, which are aligned with the Millennium Development Goals.