Since the beginning of August, heavy monsoon rains have caused intense flooding across more than one-third of Bangladesh. According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR), these floods are the worst in the last four decades. As of 27 August 2017, 32 districts in the north, north-east and central districts of  Bangladesh have been flooded, affecting 8.2 million people  (2.3 million male, 2.4 million female, and 3.5 mln children under 18 years of age). 141 people, including children, are reported to have lost their lives. An estimated 55,383 houses are reported to have been damaged and 640,786 are believed to have been destroyed by the floods.

Massive floods and landslides triggered by incessant and torrential rains have killed 143 people, and 30 have gone missing since 13 August 2017 as of 20 August 2017, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Nepal. Approximately 6 million people have been affected by the catastrophe. As per the initial findings till 15th of August, the number of displaced households have reached over 100,000 and is expected to rise when a complete assessment is carried out. Nepal Army alone has rescued 8,000 individuals and put them in safer places. Various I/NGOs and voluntary groups have started to respond the situation and help affected communities to meet their basic needs with various relief works.

The first revision of SYR171 is being issued as necessitated by the level of funding raised for the Appeal to
date, with priority for this revision given to livelihood and education interventions. Among the key
changes made under this revision is the inclusion of an early recovery livelihood program for issuing loans
to Syrian refugees in host communities to “(re-) start-ups of Small-Medium Enterprises” by the
Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR). Government approval has already been granted
to start the implementation of this component.

The International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) Lebanon proposes to re-allocate resources to the
education sector owing to the relatively low level of funding for the different sectors of response; IOCC
therefore decided to reduce activities in other sectors, and prioritize education as a strategic priority.
Education and youth are main pillars to protect children and to contribute to build a better future for
them. IOCC Lebanon is not requesting an increased amount but just reducing the requested amount
under other sectors and moving it to the education sector.

Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Jordan and Syria have not revised their appeal and/or budget.
The changes reflected in this revision are corrections due to formula errors in the original budget, resulting
in a change in their appeal budget. The Consolidated Revised Budget is on pages 38/39 of this document.

The main Appeal narrative and the intervention strategy remain largely the same, and the Secretariat
continues to raise member and donor awareness and support coordination for this Appeal to support the
complex needs of the Syria Crisis.

As of September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/hour, strengthened significantly to become one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic. After wreaking havoc in the Eastern Caribbean, the devastating Hurricane Irma approached the eastern coast of Cuba in Guantánamo on Thursday, September 7 2017, initiating its passage through the north coast of the country, making landfall on September 8 in Cayo Romano, north of Camagüey. Irma battered the entire north coast for 4 days. At 8:00 p.m. on Monday, September 11, the hurricane finally left Cuban territory leaving a huge devastation and heading to Florida as the hurricane category 3 making also large damages. Approximately 2,000,000 persons were evacuated to the homes of relatives or neighbours, emergency shelters and local churches. In terms of damage caused by the sea coming inland, with waves of up to 9 meters, there has been considerable environmental, economic and social damage in the entire country: 10 deaths have been reported; there is inadequate supply of safe water for human consumption; significant loss of coastal dunes, forests, fruit trees, as well as seed granaries, banana and other crops; total or partial destruction of houses, health and educational centers, markets, bridges and access roads to those communities. Widespread flooding promoted unsanitary conditions which have resulted in health issues. Many communities remain without electricity and telecommunications, due to extensive infrastructural damage to the national network. The tourism industry, the main source of income for the Cuban economy, was seriously impacted, due to the destruction of hotel infrastructure. All this has seriously affected the psychosocial well being of vulnerable groups, especially elderly persons, children, teenagers, youth, women, persons with disability and persons with chronic illnesses.

The Cuban Council of Churches (CIC), an ACT Alliance Member in Cuba is responding to the emergency and had identified Shelter, WASH, Food Security, early recovery and livelihood as priority sectors, and are targeting in the response  20,000 households.

On September 2017, Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/hour, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic, touched land in the Dominican Republic during the night of Wednesday September 7, 2017 affecting the region of East, Northeast, Northwest and Southwest in the Dominican Republic, causing unusual tides and strong waves of up to 20 feet. In the Dominican Republic, there are 24,000 displaced people, with half of them in shelters, 12, 829 persons are displaced at relative’s homes, 15 communities remain isolated. Food security assessments are underway and protection measures for vulnerable people in affected communities are being taken. Livelihoods in affected communities are anticipated to be an area of need when recovery efforts begin. The Emergency Operations Center continue to keep 18 to 24 provinces on red alert, due to the possibility of landslides and floods. No fatality was reported.

SSID an ACT Alliance local Member is going to provide humanitarian relief  for 200 Households from 10 communities with assistance in Food Security, hygiene kits, and Non food Items.

RRFs_Dominican Republic_Hurricanne Irma_No.RRF09_2017

Since 11 August 2017, heavy monsoon rains have caused intense flooding across more than one-third of Bangladesh. According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) this floods are the worst in the last four decades. As of 27 August 2017, the Government of Bangladesh reports that the floods have affected 32 districts in the northern, North-Eastern and Central parts of the country due to the overflowing of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna river. An estimated 55,383 houses are reported to have been damaged and 640,786 are believed to have been destroyed by the floods, while 140 people are known to have died. The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) has reported that as of 27 August, 335 shelters in flood-affected areas are sheltering more than 106,000 people.

As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit : https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=236

Concept Notes_Bangladesh_Floods_BGD171

The current floods in Assam have been termed the worst since 1998. The third wave of floods has claimed 67 lives so far in Assam. The total number of deaths in this year’s flood- related incidents has gone up to 151 in the state. Incessant rains leading to floods have wreaked havoc in 25 of the 32 districts of Assam. In Morigaon district, which has been hit hardest, 5.21 lakh people have been marooned while 4.67 lakh people are affected in Barpeta district. In Bihar, the number of dead in the devastating floods in Bihar has gone up to 514 as the situation worsened with more areas getting affected. Around 17.1 million people are facing the deluge covering 2,371 Gram Panchayats (settlement councils) under 187 blocks of 19 districts of North Bihar. According to the Bihar State Disaster Management Department, 854,936 people have been shifted to 1,646 relief camps in different parts of Bihar  While,  in northern districts of West Bengal are reeling under heavy rains and unprecedented floods since July 21 with the state’s disaster management department reporting that the disaster has so far claimed 55 lives and affected 55 lakh people in north Bengal districts – Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, South Dinajpur, North Dinajpur, Malda and Cooch Behar.

The ACT India Forum is currently monitoring the situation and is ready to respond, providing, temporary shelter, non-food items, food security, and WASH to 8,000 affected households in the coming months.

Appeals_India_Floods in West Bengal, Bihar & Assam_IND172

The current floods in Assam have been termed the worst since 1998. The third wave of floods has claimed 67 lives so far in Assam. The total number of deaths in this year’s flood- related incidents has gone up to 151 in the state. Incessant rains leading to floods have wreaked havoc in 25 of the 32 districts of Assam. In Morigaon district, which has been hit hardest, 521,000 people have been marooned while 467,000 people are affected in Barpeta district.

The number of dead in the devastating floods in Bihar has gone up to 253 as the situation worsened with more areas getting affected. Around 12.6 million people are facing the deluge in 18 districts of the state.  Heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Nepal has worsened the already grim situation in the worst-hit Araria district.

Northern districts of West Bengal are reeling under heavy rains and unprecedented floods since July 21 with the state’s disaster management department reporting that the disaster has so far claimed 55 lives and affected 5.5 million people in north Bengal districts – Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, South Dinajpur, North Dinajpur, Malda and Cooch Behar.

As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit: https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=2

Concept Notes_India_Floods in West Bengal Bihar and Assam_IND172

Massive floods and landslides triggered by incessant and torrential rains have killed 131 people, and 32 have gone missing since 11^th August 2017 so far, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Nepal. Approximately 6 million people have been affected by the catastrophe. As per the initial findings till 18^th August 2017, the number of displaced households is over 44,700 and over 301,500 households are affected^[1].

As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit: https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=236

^[1] http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Nepal%20Flood%20Sitrep%2018%20August%202017.pdf

Concept Notes_Nepal_Floods in Southern Plain_NPL171

On the evening of the 14th August, mudslides triggered by three days of heavy rains poured in and around the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown. The most severe mudslides occurred in the coastal suburb of Racecourse on the city’s eastern edge, as well as in Regent and Lumley where thousands of makeshift settlements are home to the city’s poorest communities. Torrential rains have led to a series of significant floods and mudslides in several areas of Freetown. According to Freetown Mayor, rescue workers have recovered 270 bodies so far mainly from the Regent neighborhood where the mudslides happened. As rescue operations are still ongoing, the death toll is expected to rise. An estimated 3,000 or more people are believed to have lost their homes and are in immediate need of emergency assistance and shelter according to Sierra Leone’s Office of National Security (ONS).

The ACT Sierra Leone Forum, via the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL), will respond to the Freetown mudslides crisis with a 59,957 USD Rapid Response Fund.

This Rapid Response Fund, published on August 21st, got revised on August 25th. The government decided to move the affected population to a different location and cater for the housing. Targets/allocations were revised based on this changing context and to avoid duplication. Consequent changes in needs have been reflected by a reduction in Shelter of about USD 8,000 and increase in Food Security of about USD 7,500 and WASH about USD 500. The provision of emergency shelter materials was removed (as well as the assistance in location of housing), NFIs distribution remains unchanged, and the additional Food and WASH items will enable the 100 targeted households to have a longer secure period.

RRFs_Sierra Leone_Mudslides_No.RRF 08/2017