Contact: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Press Office, 202-712-4320; Public Information, 202-712-4810

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 /Standard Newswire/ -- The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), are providing $600,000 to the Dominican Republic for the local purchase and transport of shelter materials and water as well as for other emergency relief activities after heavy rainfall and flooding in the wake of Tropical Storm Noel.

USAID is also airlifting commodities to the capital of Santo Domingo for arrival within the next 12 hours. The commodities will include 6,000 each of water containers, blankets and hygiene kits that will benefit an estimated 30,000 people. The total value of these commodities is more than $147,000, including transport.

An eight-person assessment team has also been deployed by USAID to the affected area and will coordinate with the U.S. Embassy and USAID/Dominican Republic. The USAID team is working alongside local officials to conduct disaster assessments that will help identify needs and determine if additional assistance is necessary.

Beginning Oct. 28, heavy rainfall from the storm caused severe flooding in the southern, central and western regions of the country, killing 73 people with 43 others reported missing and more than 60,000 displaced according to the latest Dominican Republic government reports. The storm and flooding also destroyed at least 600 houses and damaged more than 24,500 others, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Dominican Republic's National Emergency Commission activated the Emergency Operation Center, which is directing relief operations at the national, regional, and provincial levels in coordination with government ministries and working with humanitarian organizations.

During this hurricane season, USAID emergency humanitarian assistance programs have responded to storms in Belize, Dominica, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua and St. Lucia. Including this new assistance to the Dominican Republic, USAID's total humanitarian assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean for hurricanes this season now is over $3.14 million. In addition to responding to disasters, USAID works to build local capacity and expertise that prepares for and mitigates catastrophes and provides for recovery. Since 1998, USAID has funded more than $57 million in preparedness and mitigation programs in the Latin American and Caribbean regions.

For more information about USAID's emergency humanitarian assistance programs, please visit: www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/

The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years.