By Nelson A. King
The United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) said on Sunday
that “the clock is ticking” for
Hurricane Dorian survivors in
the Bahamas to receive humanitarian
assistance.
“Children and their families
who survived the hurricane have
lost their homes, their livelihoods,
their relatives, and have
been left with little water or
food”, said Youssouf Abdel-Jelil,
UNICEF Deputy Regional Director
for Latin America and the
Caribbean.
He said nearly 1.5 tons of lifesaving
supplies that will help provide
safe water for more than
9,500 children and families left
reeling by Hurricane Dorian have
arrived in Nassau, Bahamas.
Abdel-Jelil said UNICEF’s
first shipment of water, sanitation,
and health supplies, which
was transported by the International
Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC), includes water purification
tabs for about 9,500 people
for two weeks.
The United Nations said the
Category 5 storm that hit last
Monday left behind “a path of
destruction unprecedented in
this Caribbean country.”
“Almost five days after the
hurricane struck, safe drinking
water is now the most urgent
and valuable lifesaving item,
especially for mothers and children”,
underscored Abdel-Jelil.
Based on initial figures from
the Caribbean Disaster Emergency
Caribbean L 12 ife, September 13-19 2019
Management Agency, an
estimated 18,000 children in the
Abaco and Grand Bahama area
are in urgent need of humanitarian
assistance, UNICEF said.
Fifteen-year-old Benson
Etienne was living with his family
of eight in a two-story building
when Hurricane Dorian
slammed Abaco Island for 40
hours.
He told UNICEF that the roof
was the first thing to disappear,
then the windows. But, he said,
they managed to escape into the
strong winds and rain before the
walls collapsed.
“We had to swim for our lives
in dirty water, fighting against
strong currents”, Etienne said.
In the aftermath of Hurricane
Dorian, UNICEF said it “rapidly
deployed” a team to the Bahamas.
On Sunday, UNICEF said
an assessment mission toured
Abaco, the area hardest hit,
“where they witnessed widespread
devastation and destruction.”
“In and around Marsh Harbour,
schools and hospitals were
flattened, houses and roads collapsed,
and cars and boats left
hanging from trees,” UNICEF
said. “The team evaluated the
need for critical services, including
for health, education and
shelter facilities.”
Abdel-Jelil said “the full scale
of the destruction on the ground
is still being assessed, but initial
assessments indicate that
in some parts of Abaco, roads,
ports and other transport facilities
have been partly or totally
Fifteen-year-old Benson Etienne and his family escaped before
their house collapsed in hurricane-hit Marsh Harbour,
Abaco Island, Bahamas. UNICEF
destroyed.”
UNICEF said aerial reconnaissance
and preliminary assessments
indicate that flooding may
have also compromised water
and sanitation systems in Abaco
and parts of Grand Bahama,
putting children and families at
risk of contracting waterborne
diseases.
“Damaged infrastructure
makes the delivery of humanitarian
aid extremely challenging,”
Abdel-Jelil said. “The most
vulnerable families, especially
children, are likely to be the
hardest to reach”.
In collaboration with UN
agencies and other humanitarian
partners, UNICEF said it is
working with the Bahamian government
to distribute lifesaving
supplies to families as quickly as
possible.
UNICEF is also urgently
appealing for US$4 million
to scale up its humanitarian
response and address the most
immediate needs of children and
families across the Bahamas,
including access to safe drinking
water and sanitation, nutrition,
psychosocial support and nonformal
education activities.
‘Clock is ticking’ for Dorian
survivors in the Bahamas