Extra UK support to Central American hurricane response

• The UK is providing vital disaster recovery kit – including shelter, cooking and sanitation kits – and £1 million to Red Cross appeal
• Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus ship arrives off the coast of Honduras to aid relief efforts
• Caribbean coast is battered by second hurricane, leaving millions in need of urgent help

The UK is urgently providing vital humanitarian supplies and £1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) emergency appeal to help people in Central America who have been hit by the recent disastrous hurricanes.

Countries across Central America have been battered by Hurricane Iota, just days after Hurricane Eta hit the same stretch of coast, causing serious damage and flooding. Vulnerable communities in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala as well as parts of Belize, El Salvador, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama have been hit, with reports indicating that over 5 million people have been affected across the region. Over 160 are reported to have died, with many more people across the region being forced to evacuate their homes.

The UK is providing:

• £1 million to the IFRC emergency appeal, which will provide shelter; livelihoods; healthcare; clean water, sanitation and hygiene products;
• 2,000 tarpaulins; 1,000 tool kits to help provide emergency shelter; 1,000 cooking sets, and 900 cleaning kits for those desperately in need, to be distributed by the Red Cross;
• Support to charities working in the region via the START Fund;
• Help through deploying Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Argus, which is assisting US military relief efforts in Honduras.

Minister for the European Neighbourhood and the Americas, Wendy Morton, said:

The impact of these hurricanes has been devastating, especially as the same region has been hit twice in a matter of weeks. Our thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones and their homes.

The UK is increasing support to help those in need, through both our humanitarian and military assistance, providing life-saving shelter, clean water and medicine to people in desperate need.