The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an initial $450,000 in humanitarian assistance to meet the immediate needs for the people of Burma and Bangladesh most affected by Cyclone Mocha.
This new funding will provide critical shelter and water and sanitation and hygiene needs for vulnerable people in Rakhine State, where Cyclone Mocha first made landfall, and in Chin State, an area prone to landslides. In Bangladesh, this new assistance will provide emergency shelter and relief items in Cox’s Bazar District. The cyclone caused significant damage to shelters as well other camp structures including water sources, latrines, and schools frequently used as cyclone shelters.
The fatal cyclone has affected more than five million people in Burma, causing widespread flooding and damage to shelters. In Bangladesh, the cyclone affected more than 450,000 people in Cox’s Bazar district, including more than 21,000 Rohingya refugees. The devastating storm brings fresh trauma to nearly one million vulnerable refugees in Bangladesh, and over one million displaced people in northwest Burma, all of whom are already living in makeshift shelter, and reliant on humanitarian aid to meet basic needs before Tropical Cyclone Mocha made landfall.
Today’s assistance builds on USAID’s early response efforts to help residents prepare for the cyclone. In the days before Tropical Cyclone Mocha hit, USAID partners began mobilizing early humanitarian response operations in Burma and Bangladesh, including prepositioning emergency food, stockpiling critical shelter and relief supplies for displaced families, providing support for medical and search and rescue teams, and bolstering disaster response teams to support with assessments and response.
USAID is working with the local authorities, and our partners on the ground to further assess impacts and identify priority needs. As impact assessments are made, USAID will continue to work with the U.S. embassies, as well as disaster officials in the region, to coordinate additional relief efforts. The United States is determined to make every effort to help those affected by this cyclone in the days, weeks, and months ahead. The United States is the leading donor of humanitarian assistance in Burma and Bangladesh providing more than $400 million in Burma and nearly $1.7 billion in Bangladesh along with $6.9 million regionally, since August 2017.
For the latest updates on USAID’s humanitarian assistance in Burma and Bangladesh, visit here.