Panama City, 10 June 2009 - Red Cross societies across the Americas are ready to help communities withstand the 2009 hurricane season through careful disaster preparedness planning including the pre-positioning of relief stocks in vulnerable areas.
The 2009 season officially got underway on 1 June and is expected to last until the end of November. Experts have forecast a 70 per cent chance of as many as 14 tropical storms during this period, half of which may develop into hurricanes. Three of these hurricanes may reach category 3, 4 or 5.
Xavier Castellanos, acting head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Americas zone, says: "Tropical storms and hurricanes will not only be affecting the communities located along the hurricane corridor in the Caribbean.
"Smaller scale disasters, such as floods, may still have devastating effects in communities made vulnerable by social, political, economic and environmental factors. Because of this, the Red Cross Red Crescent focuses on helping people build safer communities."
Disaster preparedness saves lives and is much more cost-effective than expensive recovery efforts. Red Cross experts across the Americas have developed early warning and evacuation plans, while supplies of fresh water, food and blankets have been pre-positioned in areas that may be affected by the coming storms.
"The IFRC's Pan-American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU), based in Panama, is capable of immediate response to meet the emergency needs of around 125,000 people. Its storage inventory includes plastic sheets, hygiene kits, cooking kits, blankets and jerrycans for water storage," says Ariel Kesterns, head of PADRU.
During the 2008 hurricane season, the IFRC helped Red Cross societies in 13 countries to support more than 175,000 people. About 726 tons of humanitarian aid were delivered through the logistics base in Panama, 26 disaster response experts were mobilized and 1,185,000 Swiss francs were released from the IFRC's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund. Additionally, international appeals for 22,836,000 Swiss francs were launched.
For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact:
Manuel Rodríguez, emergency communications
officer Tel: + (507) 6679-4334
Pilar Forcén, communications manager
Tel: + (507) 6672-3170
The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 186 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.