Humanitarian Action

Canada's Response to Grenada's Appeal for Assistance in the Aftermath of Hurricane Emily

On July 14, 2005, Hurricane Emily passed through the eastern Caribbean to the south of Barbados, in the vicinity of Grenada, which suffered the brunt of the storm. One casualty was reported. Flooding and structural damage was estimated at C$61 million. Authorities estimate that some 2,641 dwellings, as well as many public buildings and agricultural lands, were damaged or destroyed. Northeastern Grenada and the islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique were most affected by Hurricane Emily.

On September 7, 2004, less than a year prior to Hurricane Emily, Grenada was devastated by Hurricane Ivan. More than 90 percent of homes were severely damaged or destroyed. The total cost of the damage, mostly affecting public and private infrastructure, has been estimated at US$850 million (more than double Grenada's 2003 gross domestic product (GDP). The agriculture and tourism sectors were hardest hit, and will take years to rebuild. Annual crops, as well as banana and nutmeg plantations, were destroyed, while beaches in the tourist areas were badly eroded.

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Canada's Response

In response to Hurricane Ivan, Canada committed more than $10.7 million for Grenada. The main components were:

• $1.6 million for immediate humanitarian assistance via Oxfam and the International Federation of the Red Cross;
• $1.6 million to rebuild Grenada's national emergency operations and to ensure lessons learned from the Grenada experience are applied to the region as a whole. This sum was committed to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) on November 11, 2004;
• $2 million to support farmers and fishers to bring basic systems of food production back in operation. This sum was committed to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on November 12, 2004;
• $5.15 million to support the Grenada Agency for Reconstruction and Development (ARD) to coordinate the overall reconstruction effort. $4.8 million of this was committed to the ARD on February 3, 2005, and the balance was committed on February 15; and
• $350,000 to support the community relief and reconstruction efforts of Grenadian non-governmental organizations. This sum was committed through various agreements signed between September 17, 2004, and March 1, 2005.

The monies committed by Canada were transferred to the respective organizations within a few days of each commitment being made.

Following the passage of Hurricane Emily on July 14, 2005, based on the information in Grenada and on discussions between the National Disaster Coordinator and the Regional Response Mechanism coordinated by CDERA, Grenada concluded that it could for the most part, handle the immediate post-disaster situation on its own, but might require some external assistance.

However, on July 16, the Prime Minister of Grenada appealed to the international community to help Grenada deal with the cumulative damage of Hurricanes Ivan and Emily. Three days after this initial assessment, a general appeal was issued by the Pan American Health Organization. Canada responded very quickly to this appeal with a contribution of $100,000 to be used to:

• repair a damaged hospital and a retirement residence;
• deploy public health professionals in the areas of mental health, environmental health, and health services;
• provide supplies for water sanitation, vector control, and for cleaning and removing debris; and
• carry out health promotion activities.

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Volunteers at Work

In Grenada, Youth Challenge International volunteers from Canada assisted in the preparation for Hurricane Emily (setting up shelters and driving citizens to them, and helping announce the hurricane) and were involved in damage assessments and some clean-up activities. They plan further disaster preparedness and capacity-building activities, including the designation of potential safe houses and the identification of vulnerable communities and individuals.