Hurricane Dean is set to arrive in Dominican Republic and Haiti this Saturday afternoon after 12:00pm. World Vision expects high winds of about 200km/h, strong rain, landslides and flooding for all the south coast of Dominican Republic and Haiti. The southern provinces of Barahona and Pedernales will be the most effected zones in Dominican Republic.

World Vision has activated their Local Rapid Response Team to respond to the Hurricane Dean.

In Dominican Republic, World Vision has six Area Development Programmes (ADPs). These communities are vulnerable to flooding and landslides. The ADPs have started to coordinate and plan their response once the Hurricane hits the island. Part of their efforts include assessing needs, identifying possible shelters, producing an inventory of supplies and taking measures to protect the National office. A team composed of personnel from emergencies, health, infrastructure, communications and water and sanitation have also been mobilized and are preparing to respond.

ADP staff have distributed informative materials and alerted their communities. Food, clean water, medicines and emergency generators have been propositioned in the South provinces where authorities have issued Hurricane alerts. Once the hurricane hits Dominican Republic, the local Response Team will be working with advocacy, Christian commitment and child well being to assess the damages.

In Dominican Republic, WVUS sponsors 5 ADPs Tesoro, Apolinar Perdomo, Adonai, Herniquillo, Ezequiel and World Vision Germany finances Conuquito.

In Haiti, World Vision expects that Hurricane Dean will affect five of their ADPs, three of them in the island of Gonave. World Vision US sponsors three ADPs in the affected zones; Taiwan and Australian finance one ADP each.