With slowly improving weather conditions, IOM is expanding its
relief operations to assist flood-affected populations in Gonaives,
the South and Southeast regions, which have been worst affected by
tropical storms Hanna and Gustav.

In Gonaives, IOM resumed on Monday its distribution of hygiene
kits, water containers and plastic sheeting to hundreds of
individuals accommodated in temporary shelters, which are located
on higher grounds.  Shelters in the lower part of town were
still inaccessible on Sunday as water levels rose again when
coastal areas were hit by the tail end of Hurricane Ike, the fifth
this season.

The aid, part of a larger shipment donated by the Office of US
Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), was distributed in coordination
with the Direction de la Protection Civile (DPC), United Nations
partners and NGOs on the ground.

"IOM has also deployed an emergency team in Gonaives to identify
immediate needs for temporary shelter and evaluate the state of
existing infrastructures, which have been battered by the storms,"
says Vincent Houver, IOM's Chief of Mission in Haiti. 
"Assessments are also on-going in Petit and Grand Goave, in the
remote region of Les Cayes and in the town of St. Marc."

In St. Marc, IOM is currently purchasing personal hygiene items
locally, as well as cooking utensils and plastic sheeting for
immediate distribution to some 3,000 vulnerable individuals.

"There is an urgent need to replenish stocks as all the
pre-positioned and recently received non-food items will have been
distributed in the coming days," says IOM's Vincent Houver. 
"Financial contributions are now urgently needed to secure on-going
humanitarian activities and to provide affected communities with
shelter assistance, including basic tool kits and construction
materials to help them rebuild or reinforce their
homes."  

To date, IOM has received and distributed through its partners a
first consignment of 50 tons of aid sent by the OFDA. In all, IOM
has so far distributed non-food and shelter assistance to some
7,000 families in the wake of Gustav and Hanna, though stockpiles
are running low, with a mere capacity to assist an additional 3,000
through distribution of kitchen kits. Relief efforts undertaken to
date, while significant, are no match for the levels of
displacement (upwards of 100,000) and vulnerability caused by the
string of natural disasters.

IOM, on behalf of the emergency shelter and non-food items
cluster it leads, is appealing for USD 13.18 million through the
forthcoming UN Flash Appeal; this includes the procurement,
transportation and distribution of vital non-food-items, the
provision of self-help repair packages and protection support for
displaced and affected populations, and the immediate improvement
of living conditions in temporary shelters.

For more information, please contact:

Monique Van Hoof

IOM Port au Prince

Tel: +509 3702 38 47

E-mail: "mailto:mvanhoof@iom.int">mvanhoof@iom.int