Daily Archives: 08/25/2012

ShelterBox Deployment Brief: Tropical Storm Isaac & Other Updates from Around the World
Haiti, Niger, the Philippines & Lebanon
ShelterBox is currently responding to disasters in Haiti, Niger and the Philippines. With Tropical Storm Isaac strengthening across the Caribbean, ShelterBox has sent prepositioned aid to Haiti, which is expected to arrive today. We’ve also sent disaster relief tents to West Africa’s Sahel region to help families who were forced to flee their homes from Mali due to ongoing conflict. In the Philippines, response teams are currently distributing aid to families after heavy monsoon rainfall caused the area’s worst floods since 2009. You’ll find below a brief update with more details about our current field operations.
You might notice we’re responding to multiple disasters every couple weeks. And we’re able to respond so quickly because of the generosity of our supporters who make donations before disasters strike. We can’t help families rebuild their lives without you. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Sincerely, Emily Sperling President, ShelterBox USA
WHERE SHELTERBOX IS RESPONDING NOW
HAITI
Disaster: Tropical Storm Isaac Status: 448 ShelterBoxes prepositioned in Houston, TX due to arrive in Port-au-Prince, Haiti today Image: Satellite image of Tropical Storm Isaac taken from NOAA/NASA GOES Project, August 2012.
Tropical Storm Isaac is traveling fast across the Caribbean, having hurtled over the smaller islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominica. As it strengthened and headed toward the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) advised that preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. In preparation, ShelterBox has sent to Haiti, 448 ShelterBoxes, which were prepositioned in Houston, TX. If Isaac does not hit Haiti as hard as predicted, the ShelterBoxes will be prepositioned there and used for future disasters in the region. Read more.

WEST AFRICA’S SAHEL REGION
Disaster/Crisis: Food insecurity, conflict and political instability in Mali and flooding in Niger Status: 497 relief tents delivered to the region; ShelterBox working with ACTED on distribution Image: Map of the Sahel region. The ShelterBox tents transported to Abala refugee camp managed by ACTED, approximately 170 kilometers (105 miles) to the northeast of Niamey in Niger.
ShelterBox has sent 497 disaster relief tents to bring shelter to families suffering from food insecurity, conflict and political instability that has forced countless civilians to flee their homes from Mali, a country in West Africa’s Sahel region.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is calling Mali’s situation, which has displaced over 435,000 people, a “complex emergency.”

ShelterBox has been working with the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), who has been managing a refugee camp in Niger’s Tillaberi region with over 11,000 Malian refugees. The camp in Abala has reached its capacity and ACTED is working with the rest of the humanitarian community to expand it.
ShelterBox is also monitoring the need for emergency shelter following the recent flash floods in Niger’s Niamey. Read more.

PHILIPPINES
Disaster: Flooding Status: Response team in country, distributing aid to families in need Aid: 269 ShelterBoxes distributed to date Image: Del, Ernesto and their three grandchildren receive a ShelterBox, Santa Cruz, Philippines, August 2012.
The Philippines capital, Manila and the surrounding area are experiencing their worst floods since 2009, due to unusually heavy monsoon rainfall triggered by multiple tropical storms. The SRTs have been distributing boxes from prepositioned stock in the city of Clark to various areas in and around Manila. Distributions continue this week. Read more about the families ShelterBox supporters are helping.

LEBANON
Disaster: Conflict, Refugee Crisis Status: Response postponed following a spate of violence and kidnappings in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, which began August 16 Image: By Murad Sezer/Reuters, courtesy the Thomson Reuters Foundation – AlertNet. A Syrian refugee boy climbs on a fence railing at the Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border March 17, 2012. Ongoing violence in Syria has caused a significant number of refugees to flee across the border to neighboring countries, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.
A ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) was working in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut assessing suitable options to help relieve the increasing pressure on host Lebanese families, who are sharing their often overcrowded homes with Syrian refugees. ShelterBox’s response has been postponed due to violence in the area. Read more.