Latest News

09/22/2004

Press Release

USAID Assisting Hurricane Ravaged Grenada to Chart Course Forward

Hurricane-ravaged Grenada is getting assistance with evaluation of the economic damage caused by Hurricane Ivan and in developing guidelines for a rehabilitation and reconstruction program.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Caribbean Trade and Competitiveness Development Program (C-TRADECOM) is assisting the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat with a mission to undertake a preliminary assessment of the economic impact of the hurricane.

Under the program, a multi-disciplinary team of experts is now in Grenada doing a sector-by-sector assessment of the damage to the Grenadian economy. The team will develop an action plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation programming, with emphasis on rapid response and recommendations for follow-up assistance.

The assessment will include estimates of direct and indirect damage to Grenada's economy as a whole and the magnitude of that damage to the country's Gross Domestic Product and other macro-economic variables. The overall assessment of the damage will also include a detailed macro-economic assessment of the situation prior to the disaster, the expected situation without the disaster and the estimated performance of the economy, taking into account the effects of the hurricane.

Hurricane Ivan, the most powerful storm to hit the Caribbean in over 10 years, lashed Grenada as a dangerous category three hurricane on September 7 leaving a trail of destruction in its path with over 30 persons dead, an estimated 90 per cent of the houses damaged, communications knocked out and damage to the key agricultural sector.