The UN announced on Friday that it has allocated 2.5 million dollars to Jamaica to alleviate the effects of Hurricane Beryl, which has caused significant damage in the country and left at least two dead.
The investment comes from $4 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund, dedicated to providing rapid and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by meteorological disasters and emergencies, which was released last Wednesday following news of the serious damage to Beryl became known.
The organization’s priorities include providing shelter to those affected, ensuring the supply of drinking water to prevent an outbreak of disease and providing support in communications so that “the government can recover its systems as soon as possible,” said Dennis Zulu, the UN resident coordinator in Jamaica, at a press conference.
Zulu noted that 70% of Jamaica’s National Water Commission customers, some 400,000 people, do not have access to clean water due to the impact of the hurricane.
He also stressed that 40% of the country’s population does not have electricity.
“We have 12 UN agencies resident in Jamaica, and nine working outside the country. Over the past few years we have been working to support Jamaica’s resilience, given its vulnerability and that of other countries in the Eastern Caribbean to the effects of climate change, such as Hurricane Beryl,” said Simon Springett, Resident Coordinator of the organization for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, who also participated in the press conference.
Springett warned that what is happening in the Caribbean “is only part of what will be an active hurricane season.”
This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is set to be well above average, with up to 13 hurricanes possible, including up to seven major hurricanes, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Three named tropical storms have formed so far during the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1: Alberto, Beryl and Chris.
Beryl, the earliest Category 4 system on record, is moving west-northwest at 26 kilometers per hour (16 miles per hour).
Kingston / EFE
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2024-07-06 13:30:52
