UN to send food for 500,000 in eastern Cuba after Sandy; power grid at 64 percent in Santiago

UN to send food for 500,000 in eastern Cuba after Sandy; power grid at 64 percent in Santiago

By Associated Press,

HAVANA — The United Nations on Tuesday announced a humanitarian aid mission to eastern Cuba in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, saying it could end up being the most damaging storm to hit that part of the island in 50 years.

The U.N.’s World Food Program said in a statement that it is coordinating with Cuban authorities to provide one month’s food rations for nearly a half million people in and around Santiago, a city of about 500,000 people that was clobbered when Sandy came ashore as a category 2 hurricane on Oct. 25.

“We are especially concerned about the damage in the agricultural sector where tens of thousands of hectares of staple crops have been affected,” WFP emergency coordinator William Vigil was quoted as saying. “Livestock facilities have also been also seriously damaged, particularly in Santiago, and this humanitarian assistance will help people continue until production capacities are restored.”

The government has estimated that more than 200,000 homes were damaged, and the WFP said that means more than 1 million people, about 10 percent of the island’s residents, were affected.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/un-to-send-food-for-500000-in-eastern-cuba-after-sandy-power-grid-at-64-percent-in-santiago/2012/11/06/1bfa078e-283e-11e2-aaa5-ac786110c486_story.html