Above: St Vincent (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The European Commission has donated around $409,000 to Eastern Caribbean countries impacted by the Christmas trough system.

The funding, announced by the European Commission’s Department of Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, aims to “bring immediate relief to the population most affected by floods,” according to a statement.

“Damage in the Eastern Caribbean has been very significant, mainly because the Low Level Trough System unexpectedly occurred outside the Atlantic Hurricane Season,” said Jocelyn Lance, head of the ECHO’s Caribbean office. “The European Commission wants to help the emergency relief effort with this immediate allocation of aid”

The funding will be mostly channeled through the Red Cross National Societies of St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, with two-thirds of the funding granted to the Pan American Health Organization to restore health services.

The EC said the immediate priorities were access to safe water and sanitation, with the potential for an increase in water and vector-borne diseases “of concern.”