The Government has appealed for international assistance to cope with the emergency. The humanitarian situation in the affected areas is reported to be critical. There is an urgent need for international relief assistance to rescue the stranded people and to provide them with food, drinking water, medicines and other assistance. As several areas are inaccessible, airlift operations are needed. A UN appeal is expected to be launched soon.
Preliminary indications point to almost total crop losses in low-lying areas.
Serious damage to coffee plantations by heavy winds in the major growing areas of the eastern coast are reported, and banana, orange, avocado and cocoa trees have also been seriously affected. These are cash crops that play an important role in the food economies of farm families. Thousands of hectares of rice are completely flooded. The prolonged submersion and the siltation of the paddy fields could result in total crop loss in these areas. Severe damage and losses of food stocks in households will further diminish food supplies.