During 28th – 29th December 2013, the CDEMA CU led a series of fact-finding missions to the countries of Dominica, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and Grenadines, recently impacted by heavy rains. The eight-member technical team from the Eastern Caribbean Development Partners Group on Disaster Management (ECDG DM) was led by the Executive Director of CDEMA, and comprised Delegates from CDEMA, the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology (CIMH), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Barbados Department of Emergency Management, the Regional Security System (RSS) and the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).The RSS provided transport for the Mission.

The Missions allowed CDEMA and its partners in the Regional Response Mechanism to get a better understanding of specific needs and areas where they can best support the response and recovery efforts of the affected countries.

The Government of Barbados, as the Central Sub-Regional Focal Point (SRFP) in the CDEMA system, is making available a Coast Guard vessel to assist in transporting emergency supplies to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia. The Barbados Coast Guard Vessel “Trident” is capable of transporting over four (4) tons of cargo in a single trip.

The CIMH to has agreed to deploy a technical specialist on Tuesday December 31, 2013 to St Vincent & the Grenadines to assist with the assessments of the hydrological and land slide areas. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) conducted a Health Sector Rapid Needs Assessment in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Saturday December 29, 2013. Their report details their findings, including an estimated USD$314,210.85 in damage to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, and recommendations for immediate action.

The University of the West Indies has regional engineers on stand-by awaiting formal requests from the impacted states to deploy in support of the rehabilitation and recovery of bridges, roads and other infrastructure.

SVG is also accepting monetary donations which could be made to the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) Account No: 300001 Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Swift Code: NCBVVC22.