US Sends Another $4 Million to Bahamas, Sends Supplies by UPS Air

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green recently announced that the United States is providing nearly $4 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help people in The Bahamas affected by Hurricane Dorian, which brings the total U.S. funding for this response to more than $10 million to date.

This additional funding will support emergency shelter, health, water, sanitation, hygiene, and psychosocial support for people affected by Hurricane Dorian. This U.S. funding is also providing critically needed logistics and emergency telecommunications to support the operations of the response.

USAID deployed an elite Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the lead the U.S. response to Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas. This team is made up of over 100 individuals, and has included search-and-rescue personnel to provide immediate, life-saving assistance. The DART is assessing damage, identifying priority needs, and working with partners to provide critical aid to people affected by the strongest hurricane to ever hit The Bahamas. This assistance to date includes enough relief supplies to reach 44,000 people – more than 47 metric tons of relief supplies-including heavy-duty plastic sheeting, water containers, and hygiene kits-from USAID’s Miami warehouse, as well as emergency food assistance. The DART and Washington operations center for the response brings together staff from USAID and its interagency partners, including the U.S. Departments of Defense (DOD), Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security (DHS).

Over the weekend of September 7-8, 2019, Administrator Green traveled to The Bahamas, where he surveyed the damage in the Abaco Islands during aerial assessments. He also met with members of USAID’s DART, U.S. Embassy staff, humanitarian partners, Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, and other officials of the Bahamian Government to discuss the ongoing operations of the response and reaffirm the commitment of the United States to providing assistance to address the acute needs of people affected by the storm.

UPS (United Parcel Service) airlifted more than six metric tons of supplies from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to The Bahamas to support the acute humanitarian needs of the people impacted by Hurricane Dorian. This generous transportation gift from UPS marks the first time USAID has coordinated on a humanitarian flight with the company.

This flight, carrying a total of 50 metric tons of supplies, includes enough USAID water buckets and hygiene kits to help 10,000 people in need. The flight also includes four 10,000-liter water bladders, which will provide safe drinking water.