The Cayman Islands Red Cross has used more than $50,000 in supplies in its first few days of relief work in Cayman Brac after it was devastated by Category 4 Hurricane Paloma Saturday.
Red Cross volunteers load supplies which the Cayman Aggressor will take to the Brac. |
As the relief effort continues into the next phases, the price tag is expected to top more than $100,000 in supplies alone.
Red Cross Disaster Manager Hemant Balgobin is already thinking about raising funds to replenish supplies to have them ready for the next disaster.
‘The key to providing immediate relief efforts in a disaster is having supplies pre-positioned and ready to deploy as soon as a hurricane or another emergency strikes,’ says Balgobin. ‘We have already used up about $52,000 in supplies. And that is just supplies and equipment in the first few days.
‘Right now, we only have 15,000 Pounds from the British Red Cross to pay for relief efforts and that is not nearly enough to get us what we need to do.’
Because it has limited funds, the Red Cross has had to rely on government and businesses and individuals for transportation to help transport supplies and volunteers to the Brac. And while many stepped up to the plate to assist the Red Cross, it has also meant that the organisation has had to wait 24 to 48 hours to get goods and volunteers over to the Brac because it is trying to conserve what funds it has. In a disaster like a Category 4 hurricane, those hours can be critical in administering medical aid, or salvaging what might be left of a their homes and businesses to start over.
‘Many of these people in the Brac were not insured and their houses are devastated. They are going to need a lot more help in the days, weeks and months to come,’ says Balgobin.
The other fight against the clock is that most volunteers have other jobs and are only able to take a few days off at a time to do as much as they can before employers in Grand Cayman start asking them to report back to work. It is critical to use the volunteers while they have the time off to pitch in to help. The labour costs from volunteer work cannot even start to be calculated, says Balgobin.
With all the hard work and sacrifice from volunteers it was a bit discouraging to find out that almost all of their cars were broken into and vandalised last week.
‘While we have had break-ins at the Red Cross before, this is the first time every single volunteer’s car was broken into and vandalised. It just makes everything more difficult to deal with,’ says Balgobin.
Although the Red Cross initially had difficulty in transporting tarpaulins and chainsaws and other equipment to clear debris to the Brac in the first 48 hours after the storm, it was finally able to coordinate efforts with the Chamber of Commerce, Cayman Aggressor and the Public Works Department to get several tons of supplies to the Brac on Sunday night, explained Balgobin.
‘We are concentrating on distributing critical supplies such as tarpaulins, hygienic parcels, flashlights, lanterns, at distribution centres,’ says Balgobin. ‘And we are also sending out volunteers to the elderly and the most vulnerable in the community to help them get tarpaulins on their roofs.’
Businesses and the community in Grand Cayman have been very generous with donations and reaching out to the people in need in Cayman Brac. The Red Cross is requesting that donations should now be focused on immediate needs or in cash.
‘We are trying desperately to meet the needs of the people and what they are most asking for are batteries, all kinds, but especially AA batteries, diapers, cleaning supplies such as a mops and brooms, bleach.
‘They are also going to need mosquito repellent in the next few days as people don’t have air-conditioning and will keep their windows open.’
Red Cross volunteers load supplies which the Cayman Aggressor will take to the Brac.
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