US provides $24M in emergency aid for victims of Hurricane Melissa in Caribbean

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US is providing $24 million in emergency, life-saving assistance to help victims of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, Haiti, the Bahamas and Cuba, the State Department announced Tuesday.

"This funding will be used to provide shelter, water, sanitation, hygiene, food assistance and emergency health care," it said in a statement.

The Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in Jamaica continues to assess the situation and determine future needs, it added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has authorized the following allocations: $12 million for Jamaica, $8.5 million for Haiti, $3 million for Cuba and $500,000 for the Bahamas.

According to the UN, some six million people have been affected by the category five hurricane which swept across the Caribbean last month, prompting UN agencies to scale up relief operations to safeguard livelihoods and reduce further losses.