Hurricane Dean: Jamaica Picks Up the Pieces as Mexico Feels the Storm's Impact
Tim Ledwith, UNICEF
NEW YORK, USA, (August 21, 2007) — UNICEF and its humanitarian partners in the Caribbean region are taking action to protect children and families from the effects of Hurricane Dean, as Jamaica picks up the pieces from a battering it took on Sunday and Mexico feels Dean's fierce impact today.
The hurricane, which had intensified into a Category 5 storm, struck the Yucatan peninsula near the city of Chetumal early this morning, local time. Reuters reported that Chetumal was left without electricity when sustained winds of 265 kilometres per hour knocked down power lines and trees.
In neighboring Belize, authorities said they expected the country to experience the hurricane's impact for close to six hours.
According to the US National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Dean's broad target area stretches from Honduras and Belize to the US Gulf Coast. Forecasters say the storm has weakened over land but remains dangerous.
Destruction in Jamaica
Before hitting Mexico, the hurricane passed just south of Jamaica on August 19. Strong winds and heavy rain triggered mudslides, blocked roads, felled trees and power lines, and damaged roofs across a wide area.
"Some communities have been cut off because of landslides and water surges from the ocean," UNICEF Representative in Jamaica Bertrand Bainvel said in a telephone interview yesterday.
"The most affected areas seem to be the eastern and southern parishes of Jamaica," he continued. "We estimate up to 300,000 people affected, and up to 90,000 of those are children."
Meeting Jamaican children's needs
UNICEF Jamaica has ordered relief supplies to aid the affected population, including emergency health kits and water containers, which are to be delivered by mid-week, Bainvel said. Most of the island remains deprived of electricity and running water, he reported.
In the hurricane's aftermath, UNICEF anticipates that the greatest needs will be in the areas of basic health, safe water and sanitation, psychosocial support and education for children in stricken areas. "Even though children are not in school now, they are expected to go back to school in September. We have to make sure schools affected and families preparing [for the new school year] are assisted," said Bainvel.
UNICEF is also focused on protection of vulnerable children, whose needs and rights are often forgotten in emergency situations such as this, the UNICEF Representative noted. "But we have to keep an eye on Belize and then on Mexico, who are in the path of the hurricane," he added.
Preparedness in Mexico
In another phone interview yesterday, UNICEF Representative in Mexico Susana Sottoli explained that an emergency had already been declared in three states—Quintana Roo, Yucatan and Campeche—as Hurricane Dean approached.
"Fortunately, Mexico has a good emergency preparedness system," said Sottoli. "The responsible authorities have been involved in activating that network, including pre-positioning supplies and shelters for potentially evacuated people."
Mexican officials have been evacuated at least 80,000 tourists from the coastal region, Sottoli said. In Yucatan and Quintana Roo, meanwhile, approximately 1,200 shelters with capacity for more than 70,000 people were readied. Most of the shelters are located in schools.
Education could be disrupted
The school year, which was set to begin this week in some storm-threatened areas of Mexico, has been postponed due to the hurricane emergency. In other areas, classes are scheduled to start next week, but education may be further disrupted depending on the hurricane's effects.
Sottoli said UNICEF has activated its network of partners to be ready for a rapid assessment of children's needs.
"After the assessment, we will dedicate ourselves to providing the children with psychological support to help them cope with the disaster," she said. "And secondly, we are going to focus our energies on trying to get the children back to school as soon as possible. For that goal, we are preparing school supplies that children may need in order to resume classes."
Blue Chevigny and Kun Li contributed to this story.
