On 4 September 2007, at 4:45 a.m., Category 5 Hurricane Felix, with winds of 270 kilometers per hour wrecked havoc on the northeastern coast of Nicaragua. Government estimates indicated that approximately 185,000 persons were affected in the indigenous communities of Puerto Cabezas, Waspam/ RioCoco, Bonanza, Rosita, Suina, and Prinzapolka.
Hurricane Felix completely destroyed around 9,800 houses, damaged 6,600 houses more, as well as schools, hospitals, water supply systems and basic sanitary infrastructure. Major roads were made impassable as fallen trees and debris blocked access. Electricity and telephone services were cut off for days. It is feared that the health risk of the affected communities will increase as a result of the current sanitary situation.
Floods and strong winds have damaged existing agricultural crops and destroyed the fishing equipment in the affected areas. As agriculture and fishing are the main sources of income in the region, the most-affected households will face an aggravated income shortage as well as a decrease in food reserves.
Households in the region have already been food insecure and the affects of this hurricane will further reduce food access of this vulnerable population until the next expected harvest in June 2008.
An alarming 75% of the affected households are currently suffering severe food insecurity as their main livelihoods were destroyed based on the EFSA results. Some 60% of the affected families have reduced the number of meals per day to only once a day causing a serious impact on the already high malnutrition rates among children under five in the area.
Due to the magnitude of the disaster, President Daniel Ortega issued a declaration of national emergency for the National Autonomous Atlantic Region (RAAN) on the same day that Hurricane Felix struck the country. He also tasked all government departments to assess the damage and to prepare a recuperation and reconstruction plan, seeking international assistance to meet funding requirements.
SINAPRED, the National System of Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Attention, has been mandated to lead the relief and reconstruction efforts. SINAPRED, has officially requested for WFP’s assistance to respond to the critical food needs of the affected population.
This EMOP plans to assist in the first 90 days a caseload of 80,000 persons with General Food Distribution (GFD) in the municipalities of Puerto Cabezas, Waspam/ Rio Coco, Bonanza, Rosita and Prinzapolka to ensure that the basic food needs of the affected people are being met and acute malnutrition or even mortality can be prevented.
This will be followed by an early recovery program for 90 days consisting of a Supplemental Feeding component for 35,000 beneficiaries and a Food-for-Work (FFW) component for 55,000 persons. An additional 90 days of assistance will be provided to some 20,000 persons who have not recovered their livelihoods.
The Supplemental Feeding will provide special attention to children under five and pregnant and lactating mothers to avoid a deterioration of their nutrition and health status. The FFW, on the other hand, will support affected families in the rebuilding and repair of their homes and other essential community and agricultural infrastructure which will enable them to return to self-reliance by summer 2008.
Both these proposed EMOP activities are in line with WFP’s Strategic Objective 1 and 2 as well as Millenium Development Goals 1, 4 and 5.Total cost of the EMOP is US$ 10.2 Million.
