By EU Delegation in Barbados
BARBADOS / ST LUCIA – In response to the recent wave of intense floods that hit communities in the north of Saint Lucia, the European Union is providing €60,000 in humanitarian funding to assist the most affected.
The current EU humanitarian funding will support the Saint Lucia Red Cross Society in delivering much-needed assistance including the distribution of hygiene and cleaning kits, mattresses, blankets and mosquito nets to reduce the risk of vector-borne diseases.
“The European Union regrets the damage and disruption to livelihoods the flash flooding has caused and hopes that its contribution to the Red Cross’ Disaster Fund will assist those Saint Lucians who were severely affected to get back on their feet as soon as possible,” said EU ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska.
The intervention will last for four months and aims at providing immediate support to approximately 1,000 people who have seen their houses severely damaged by the flooding. The St Lucia Red Cross will identify the 150 most vulnerable families – households with children under five years, elders, pregnant women, single mothers and people with disabilities or chronic diseases – and deliver to them cash assistance so that they can purchase what they most urgently need.
The funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Saint Lucia has experienced persistent rainfall over the last two months, which led to saturated soils and floods in the northern communities of Corinth, Bois d´Orange and Grand Riviére. Local authorities estimate that over 5,500 people have been affected.
