REDLAC Weekly Note on Emergencies Latin America & the Caribbean

This note is compiled for The Risk Emergency Disaster Working Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (REDLAC) by the OCHA Regional Office through disaster monitoring and input from our Regional Humanitarian partners. This note does not intend to be an analytical tool, but a summary paper of key facts and actions reported by the sources indicated. Activities carried out in affected countries are not limited to the ones reported here. Please check with sources for further information. For input, feedback and suggestions send us an email to [email protected]

Year 3 - Issue 164 05 July 2010

HIGHLIGHTS:  : Hurricane Alex caused 11 deaths in .  BOLIVIA: 42,000 households damaged and 25,000 hectares of damaged crops in El Chaco.  : Six people dead and 1,000 houses affected by rains.  : Rains affected Leogane and other departments in Haiti.

HURRICANE SEASON and had to leave their homes. Some 2,180 people were placed in emergency shelters(2). According to the ATLANTIC: Hurricane Alex caused 11 deaths and Economic Commission for Latin America and the over US$800 million in damages in the State of Nuevo Caribbean (ECLAC) recovery in will cost León, Mexico. The storm flooded dozens of around US$975 million, of which, US$224 million is neighborhoods, closed roads and damaged productive environmental damage. activity; while dozens of homes were affected by Sources: (1) National Civil Protection System, (2) Prensa Libre landslides. The hurricane caused the bridge connecting Monterrey to the municipality of Guadalupe to partly collapse. In addition, an oil spill occurred in the municipality of . Some 160,000 people were left without electricity, and phone lines and Internet connections were affected. Authorities declared Nuevo Leon as disaster area.

Alex made on the coast of the State of , in the , and affected the neighboring state of where losses are estimated at US$30 million. Alex is considered to be the third worst disaster in the history of the State of

Nuevo Leon. The damages are compared with those Monterrey -Mexico: Hurricane Alex left over US$800 (1) caused by in 1988 . million in damages in Nuevo Leon. Some 160,000 people were affected due to shortages of electricity and telephone In , five people were killed as a result of systems. Image: AFP© Alex. In , six people were killed and a red alert was declared at the onset of the storm. In Guatemala, thousands of people were directly affected

Weekly Note On Emergencies 1 DROUGHT Despite these difficulties, the civil defense and the army delivered 60 tons of food and medicine. BOLIVIA: Approximately 42,000 households have President Lula Da Silva suspended a mission to been affected and 25,000 hectares of damaged crops Canada to "monitor" relief aid to nearly 157,000 as the result of drought in the Bolivian Chaco. victims. Affected crops include: corn, sunflower, beans, Source: Government of Brazil. peanuts, potatoes and tomatoes. The Government has declared a for the departments of Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija in southeast EARTHQUAKE Haiti: Bolivia, to mobilize financial and human resources  As of 28 June 2010, more than 6,355 mt of within the country. The national meteorological and humanitarian assistance has been dispatched hydrological office forecasts that drought will worsen from Port-au-Prince: 89% by land and 11% over the next three months due to the effects of El by air. Of these dispatches 41% were shelter Niño. items, 20% food items, 14% agriculture, 11% Source: Government of Bolivia. water and sanitation, and 6% logistics items

RAINS – FLOODING for 99 different organizations. In addition, more than 1,300 truckloads of assistance Dominican Republic: The heavy rains affecting the have been dispatched from to Dominican Republic over the past two weeks have left Haiti delivering more than 9,300 mt of life- six people dead and 1,000 houses flooded in Santo saving relief supplies. Domingo and in several provinces of the interior of  38 organizations have used inter-agency the country. Flooding caused 9,500 people to storage in Port-au-Prince. evacuate to official emergency shelters or houses of  To meet storage requirements, an additional relatives and friends. All alerts have since been two-hectare warehouse/transit hub is cancelled. operational outside Port-au-Prince on the road Source: Government of Dominican Republic. to the Jimani border crossing, as a site for organizations to set up and manage their own Haiti: Haitian authorities reported flooding in various Mobile Storage Units (MSUs). locations caused by the heavy rains associated with  To date, over 12,000 passengers from some tropical wave that struck the country last week. One 500 different UN organizations, donors, NGOs, person died in the municipality of Leogane, in the governments, embassies and media West, where several rivers overflowed, affecting institutions have used the UNHAS passenger surrounding neighborhoods. Civil protection reported transport services. The helicopters have flown that flooding in the northern city of Gonaives, capital numerous assessment missions to more than of the Department of Artibonite, forced people to 90 isolated villages have delivered more than move into the nearby mountains and affected two 990 mt, largely medicines, food and tents. tourist facilities. Source: Logistic Cluster. Source: Government of Haiti.

Brazil: Floods in northeastern Brazil caused 57 deaths and created difficulties for relief teams distributing food due to the destruction of roads.

Weekly Note On Emergencies 2