Environment News Service: A five-member UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team arrived today [December 23] in Papua New Guinea to help identify the aid needs of some 32,000 victims of severe sea swells that struck the northern shoreline and neighboring islands. Caused by a low depression in the Pacific Ocean off Guam and New Caledonia, the swell affected five provinces - East Sepik, Madang, Manus, Morobe and New Ireland - as well as the autonomous region of Bougainville.The swells destroyed houses, food and water supplies, damaged crops and led to the loss of gardening tools. Main needs initially identified by the government include water containers, tarps, water purification tablets, food rations and insecticide-treated anti-malarial bed nets.
An inter-agency assessment group including the UNDAC team has been deployed in East Sepik. The team, set to remain in the islands for seven to 10 days, is supporting the National Disaster Centre in Information Management by compiling available data on damage, impact, and needs….
Location map for Papua New Guinea by Vardion, Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
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