ECLAC team conducts post-Matthew disaster assessment in Bahamas

The Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean sent a group of experts on 23-29 October and is now preparing an official report.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, a team of experts in damage and loss assessment from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean flew to the Bahamas to assess the damages caused on the ground.

The mission, which took place from 23-29 October 2016, was funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and was undertaken in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO).

The ECLAC team and their counterparts visited the areas of Andros, Berry Islands, Grand Bahama and New Providence, where they met stakeholders from the public and private sector to gauge the effects and impacts of the hurricane.

A Category 4 Hurricane, Matthew caused severe damage to infrastructure and properties, and resulted in electricity loss and flooding in the Bahamas, as well as in Cuba and Haiti.

ECLAC is now preparing the official disaster assessment report for the Bahamas.

ECLAC is a regional leader in the conduct of disaster assessment exercises, and the mission to the Bahamas is the latest in a series of similar exercises conducted by the Commission during the course of 2016. Moreover, over the past 12 months, ECLAC has completed disaster assessment exercises in Belize, following Hurricane Earl; in Ecuador, following the earthquake on 16 April; and in the Bahamas, following Hurricane Joaquin.