UN, Fiji appeal for 38 mln USD to relieve "catastrophic loss" after Cyclone Winston

The UN and the government of Fiji on Friday launched a humanitarian flash appeal requesting 38.6 million U.S. dollars to provide critical emergency relief to 350,000 people affected by the devastating tropical cyclone Winston which hit the island nation last month, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

The cyclone killed more than 40 people, and an estimated 54,000 displaced still remain sheltered in 960 evacuation centers, deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said at a daily news briefing.

"The Flash Appeal has received immediate funding of 8 million dollars from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund or CERF," Haq said, adding that UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Stephen O'Brien said the appeal will enable partners to kick-start the delivery of immediate, life-saving response to communities devastated by the cyclone.

Winston, the most devastating tropical cyclone on record in the Southern Hemisphere, struck the Pacific island nation on Feb. 20, taking more than 40 lives and affecting 40 percent of the total population.

While comprehensive data on the damage is still being collected, initial estimates indicate varying levels of destruction, with up to 100 percent of buildings destroyed on some islands. Hundreds of schools have been damaged or destroyed, health facilities have been severely damaged and the agricultural sector faces a total loss of some 56 million U.S. dollars.

"Almost no part of our nation has been left unscarred, and many of our rural and maritime areas bore the brunt of Winston's fury," said Nazhat Shameem Khan, Fiji's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva.

On Koro Island alone, more than 3,000 people were left homeless, with 21 percent of livestock dead and any crop yield made impossible.

"This is a loss of catastrophic proportions for Fiji, and the immediate loss will be followed by a longer term loss to Fiji's economic and social growth," Khan said. "We have suffered a terrible blow to infrastructure, health, education, and agriculture."

"It is a blow which will take us years to recover from," Khan said. "The moment is now, for our friends to stand by the people of Fiji."

The United Nations, together with its humanitarian partners, is supporting Fiji in their response to the catastrophe.

"It is vital that the international community provides the necessary resources so we can help all the affected people with shelter, health services, water and sanitation, and support students to restart their education," said Marcy Vigoda, chief of partnerships and resource mobilization in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva. Enditem