United Nations Radio

UN and other humanitarian agencies are delivering emergency assistance to countries in the Caribbean region affected by Hurricane Gustav, which has killed nearly a hundred people.

"The cumulative death toll across the region, so far that we've received, is 76 deaths reported from Haiti, eight deaths from the Dominican Republic and 12 from Jamaica. The affected population in Haiti, the current estimates of range from 5,000 to 8,000 people, but may go up to 20,000 once assessments are completed."

Disaster specialists from the World Health Organization are in the Cayman Islands and disaster focal points are working in Haiti and Jamaica, as well as out of an emergency operation center in Barbados.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that more than 2,000 homes in Haiti have been destroyed and 8,000 damaged. In the Dominican Republic, more than 6,000 people were evacuated and more than 2,000 houses were damaged. The hurricane also destroyed banana plantations in Haiti and Jamaica.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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