More Help for Hurricane Earl Victims, This Time from the U.S.

By early afternoon, the U.S. Ambassador to Belize Carlos Moreno was handing over a fifty-thousand-dollar donation of mattresses and other relief supplies to the Red Cross for the victims of Hurricane Earl.  It is but a portion of the total assistance that the U.S. government will be making to Belize. According to Ambassador Moreno, his government will make available fifty thousand U.S. dollars from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office (USAID) and over two hundred and forty-five thousand U.S. dollars in U.S. military assistance in relief to Belize. The donation builds on the embassy’s long-term disaster preparedness efforts. 

Carlos Moreno, U.S. Ambassador to Belize

“This donation is a continuation of our support and aid to Belize and the victims of Hurricane Earl; we are doing this through NEMO and today with Belize Red Cross. Today’s donation is part of fifty-thousand-dollar aid grant to the Red Cross that consists primary of mattresses, bed linens, pillows and so forth.  We plan to continue with providing that kind of aid to the Belize Red Cross.”

Lily Bowman

Lily Bowman, Director General, Belize Red Cross

“The families most affected are the beneficiaries. We have been assessing in Belize City and this is where we will be distributing according to the assessments that we have carried out. Of course it is very important to say that we have been cross checking with NEMO’s list to ensure that there is no duplication. So we are trying to reach as many affected people as possible.”

Carlos Moreno

Carlos Moreno

“In addition, our Military Assistance Office is providing forty-five thousand dollars worth of mattresses, beds, food supplies and other similar types of relief materials and that also will be distributed through the Belize Red Cross. And I should note that beyond that, we are going to provide about two hundred thousand dollars worth of supplies to resupply the NEMO warehouses, which you know are currently in the process of distributing what they have in stock right now.”

Over the years, the U.S. Government has spent over ten million dollars supporting NEMO with the construction of three warehouses, a number of disaster relief centers and operation centers across the country as well as community centers and school classes that serve as shelters in times of disasters.