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UN response: The facts matter
- OCHA has coordinated assistance from 27 countries, involving more than 2,200 rescuers and 140 search dogs.
- Three UN field hospitals are operating in La Guiara, one of the worst-hit areas.
- UNICEF said 1.8 million people needed humanitarian assistance, including 680,000 children.
- The IOM warned as many as 6.76 million people could be affected; Satellite mapping showed nearly a third of buildings in the port city of Catia La Mar were damaged.
- UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher called the estimate of 50,000 people still missing “very reasonable”.
“Destruction is everywhere,” said Stephanie Hochstetter, Country Director in Venezuela for the UN World Food Program (WFP), speaking from earthquake-hit La Guaira, located about 40 minutes north of the capital Caracas. “Many people lost their lives, thousands were injured, and hundreds of buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged,” he added. “People will really need food.”
The confirmed death toll is at least 1,450 people, but this number is likely far below the actual figure as tens of thousands of others are believed to still be missing. At least 3,200 people were injured, and the number continues to rise.
One of the worst affected locations was the coastal state of La Guaira, Mireya Quesada Sojo explained a huge challenge facing civilian rescuers like him. Surrounding it were huge piles of collapsed rubble and twisted rocks where Mireya’s relatives lived when the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck, less than a minute away.
“Initially, we started digging with our bare hands, trying to recover our family membershe said, looking up from a baseball cap pulled over graying hair, glasses, dust-covered jeans and a T-shirt. “We know they’re no longer alive, but we need to be able to see them again, even though it’s sad. So, we asked for help to see if we could dig it up. People are coming forward to help and we are very grateful.”
Since the beginning of the crisis, the United Nations aid coordination office, Ochahas helped coordinate the international response provided by 27 countries and involved more than 2,200 rescue and 140 search dogs.
The agency tweeted that families searched for their loved ones “often through treacherous rubble and against impossible odds.”
In addition to search and rescue coordination, the agency provides support for information management, logistics and communications. Non-governmental and private sector partners are also on site, providing much-needed shelter, water, food, medicine and protection.
OCHA also continues to work closely with the Government, military and civil protection at coordination centers including in La Guiara, where the UN has set up three field hospitals and teams are preparing support for people unable to return home.
Food access has become a major concern
As part of the food emergency response, WFP reports having more than 3,000 metric tons of food in the country, with enough supplies to feed more than 10,000 families for two months. “We are also looking for the quickest way to mobilize further food assistance, and establish response priorities across affected states,” the agency said in a statement on Monday.
The earthquake disaster “adds further difficulties to countries facing overlapping needs”, WFP stressed, noting this Access to sufficient food is still a major concern for 80 percent of the population
According to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEFaround 1.8 million people need humanitarian assistance including 680,000 young people.
In comments to media at the weekend, the UN emergency aid chief described the damage to roads, airports and buildings as “extraordinary”. Tom Fletcher also said that initial estimates of 50,000 people missing were still “very reasonable”, although not all of those unaccounted for were trapped under the rubble.
House of cards
In total, around 6.76 million people could be affected by the earthquake, including two million in Caracas alone, according to the UN migration agency. IOMhad warned. He highlighted the scale of the disaster on Monday using satellite mapping analysis from Microsoft showed that 31.5 percent of buildings in Catia La Mar, a large port city in northern Venezuela, had been damaged.
Early assessments like these help humanitarian responders identify which communities most need assistance, including providing life-saving assistance.
The latest official assessment shows that nearly 190 buildings collapsed when the earthquake struck on June 24, and a total of more than 770 buildings were affected. Witnesses reportedly likened the building to a “house of cards” or a “layered cake” whose destruction left thousands homeless or trapped under rubble.
