Response to Hurricane Matthew: Cuba Situation Report No.9 Office of the Resident Coordinator (al 11 10 2016) This report is produced by the Office of the Resident Coordinator. It covers the period from 14:00 hrs on October 11th to 14:00 hrs on October 12th. The next report will be issued on or around 13/10. Highlights The Ministers for Construction, Energy and Mining, Communications, Agriculture, Domestic Trade, and the Deputy Minister of Public Health are still on site in the province of Guantanamo coordinating the recovery actions after the passing of Hurricane Matthew. Maisí’s Municipal Defense Council (Guantanamo) increased the proportion of affected houses to 94% of the total housing fund in Maisí. The Ministry of Energy and Mining confirmed that the reestablishment of the electricity service in the city of Photo: Maisí / Periódico Baracoa will take one month and said that the Venceremos situation in Maisí is very complicated. The agricultural losses amount to 35,000 million pesos in the municipality of Baracoa alone. Authorities of the province of Holguín are providing for the People’s Councils of Nibujón and Cayo Guin that have become isolated from the rest of the province of Guantanamo due to the collapse of a bridge of the river Toa. Photo: Elder Leyva / Periódico Venceremos 74,000 94% 35 290 44 13 people remain of the housing million Cuban pesos educational health institutions aqueducts evacuated in sector of Maisí has lost in the institutions severely affected in destroyed in the Guantanamo been damaged agricultural sector of damaged in the 10 municipalities municipality of Baracoa province of Maisí Guantanamo Situation overview The Municipal Defense Council of Maisí in the province of Guantanamo has raised the number of affected houses to 94% of the total housing fund of the territory. The situation is exacerbated by the severe damages to state institutions, schools, hospitals, polyclinics, video-viewing rooms and other social spaces, limiting the availability of safe shelters for the people that remain evacuated in the little buildings that remain and in the caves in the area habilitated for that purpose. Note: All the information in this report has been taken from Cuban official media (TV, radio, and press) and statements from Cuban authorities. Sources: Newspapers Granma, Juventud Rebelde, Periódico 26, Ahora Sierra Maestra y Adelante. Radio stations: Radio Rebelde, Radio Habana Cuba, Radio Angulo, Radio Mambí; Press agencies: Prensa Latina (PL) y Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN); Websites: Cubadebate. Supplementary data has been taken from the National Statistics Office website from official documents and from WFP staff in the field. United Nations Office of the Resident Coordinator www.onu.org.cu Hurricane Matthew, Situation Report 9 | 2 The 28,550 people in the mountainous region of Maisí face the consequences of the rupture of all water networks of the area. National authorities are working hard to provide food and safe water through tanker trucks to the population of Maisí and those evacuated in other territories. The telecommunication and electricity services are gradually being restored in the eight most affected municipalities of Guantanamo, with the exception of Baracoa and Maisí. The city of Baracoa, world heritage site since 2001, confirms that it will take around a month to reestablish the service to the entire population. In Maisí, technicians sustain that the recovery of the electrical sector will be very complicated. While waiting for official reports on the extent of the damages inflicted by Hurricane Matthew, the media informs that the agricultural losses amount to 35,000 million pesos (“moneda nacional”) in the municipality of Baracoa alone, as the production of coconut and cocoa has been severely impacted. Humanitarian Response National authorities The Ministers for Construction, Energy and Mining, Communications, Agriculture, Domestic Trade, and the Deputy Minister of Public Health remain in the province of Guantanamo coordinating the damage evaluations, the recovery actions, and the care for the affected population. The Cuban Institute for Friendship has opened a bank account (No. 0300000003347326) to receive donations for the most affected populations. It has been established that the main resources needed are materials for housing, metal or plastic roofing plates, tarps, water containers of 200, 36, and 10 lilters, chlorine tablets, kits for the maintenance and reparation of houses, hygiene kits, mattresses, sheets, latrines, and mosquito nets. Other public institutions, organizations, and academic centers of the entire country are promoting the recollection of donations of personal goods to be given to the most affected populations. Evacuated population The national media reports that the following people remain evacuated in: Province Evacuated people (12/10/16) Municipality Evacuated people (11/10/16) Total Government Houses Total Government Houses shelters and others shelters and others Guantanamo 74,000 13,000 61,000 Baracoa 14,065 3,747 10,318 (includes Maisi No available data relocation to San Antonio caves) del Sur Imias Yateras Holguin 110 Moa No municipal data Sagua de Tanamo Antilla It is estimated that over 100 people of the communities of the People’s Council of Nibujón and Cayo Guin of the municipality of Baracoa (Guantanamo), remain evacuated in Holguín due to the collapse of the river Toa. United Nations Office of the Resident Coordinator www.onu.org.cu Hurricane Matthew, Situation Report 9 | 3 Sectors Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Damages: The national authorities and qualified staff continue to carry out damage 13 assessments of the water, sanitation and hygiene sector. No official data has been aqueducts provided so far. destroyed in Maisí In Maisí, 13 aqueducts were destroyed: 11 gravity-, and 2 pumping water networks. Response: Repair works to the water network is ongoing. Water supply to the population and the adoption of hygienic- sanitary measures are key priorities in order to avoid the outbreak of epidemics. Authorities in the four most affected municipalities provided the population with more than 2,000 bottles of sodium hypochlorite so as to ensure safe water. The sodium hypochlorite was produced by the provincial Pharmacy and Optics Enterprise. A technical team from Sancti Spíritus was sent to Baracoa to repair the pipelines. Another team had already been deployed to Eastern Cuba to support water distribution through tanker trucks. About 25,000 cubic metres of solid waste were collected in Baracoa. Waste collection is one of the most important tasks in San Antonio del Sur in order to support hygienic sanitary measures. Great part of these actions are focusing on the urban areas of the municipality of San Antonio del Sur and the community of Puriales de Caujeri - where strong winds have scattered 11,000 cubic metres of debris over side-walks, parks, houses and main access roads. UNICEF: UNICEF is working on a project proposal to respond to the immediate needs related to water and sanitation in the four most affected municipalities in Guantanamo: Baracoa, Maisí, Imías and San Antonio del Sur. The proposal will be channeled through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), OCHA's financial tool for emergencies. UNICEF is also developing an Action Plan to support the rehabilitation of schools and their water and sanitation services, in the most affected municipalities in the provinces of Guantanamo (Baracoa, Imias, Maisi, Manuel Tames, San Antonio del Sur, Yateras) and Holguín (Moa and Sagua de Tanamo), where the most greatest damages to the educational sector have been reported. Food Security Damages: Agricultural damages in the municipality of Baracoa are estimated at over CUP 35,000,000 35,000,000 Cuban Pesos. in agricultural damages In Maisí, coffee and cocoa – the main crops in this municipality – were the most estimated in Baracoa affected. Crop Crop losses per municipality Implications for livelihoods Baracoa Maisi Coffee No information 4,940 hectares, Coffee is the main economic sector in available 150,000 seedlings and the municipality of Maisí (the main 86,000 cans (equivalent to coffee producer in the country). 975 tons) Cocoa 3,365 hectares 570 hectares, and Cocoa is also a key crop in the two 20 tons of predicted produce in municipalities. the short-run Coconut 5,767.2 hectares No information available Baracoa is the main coconut producer in Cuba. Plantain No information No information available It is the second most important crop in available (extended areas) the municipality of Maisí United Nations Office of the Resident Coordinator www.onu.org.cu Hurricane Matthew, Situation Report 9 | 4 Severe damages were also reported in the forestry sector of Maisí, where thousands of trees were razed to the ground, including coconut palms, citric trees and other fruit trees. In addition, strong winds and rains destroyed the roofs of seven coffee pulping and processing centres in Punta Maisí and Punta Caleta. The food distribution unit (“bodega”) in Boca de Jauco (the municipality of Maisí) was entirely destroyed. Consequently, the stored food is exposed to adverse weather conditions, with serious risk of losses. Cocoa warehouses lost about 25 tons, despite having implemented protection measures prior to the passage of the hurricane (i.e. plastic sheets). Response: Teams of workers were deployed to the territories affected by Hurricane Matthew to support the restoration of key plantations. In the case of coffee and cocoa, restoration