Lebanon: Beirut blast, 4 Aug 2020
Situation overview
Situation:
  • On 4 August, at approximately 18h00 (local time), a warehouse at the Beirut Port containing large quantities of ammonium nitrate exploded. The blast killed around 200 people and injured more than 6,500 others.
  • 200,000 housing units were affected by the explosions, with an estimated 40,000 buildings damaged, of which 3,000 severely. Over 15,000 establishments – some 50 per cent of all Beirut establishments – are also estimated to be damaged.
  • The Government of Lebanon declared the state of emergency in Beirut until 18 September.
  • The Beirut Port is partially operational with nearly 9,000 containers unloaded between 11-18 August.
  • A two-week lockdown comes into effect on 21 August, in an effort to stem the surge in COVID-19 cases. Relief and aid work in the aftermath of the explosions will be permitted to continue.
  • The explosions caused between $3.8-4.6 billion in damage and between $2.9-3.5 billion in losses.
Needs:
  1. WASH: Out of 5,355 buildings in the affected areas 1,339 buildings have damaged water systems, and 3,584 roof tanks are affected and need intervening/substituting.
  2. Protection: Out of almost 2,300 families contacted, over 60 per cent expressed a need for protection and psychosocial support services, in addition to food, cash and non-food items.
  3. Education:The total number of damaged private and public schools reached 178. Higher education facilities were also impacted by the explosion (at least 36 buildings). Support is urgently needed for school rehabilitation and urgent support for remote learning is also needed.
  4. Health: The following five aspects are in need: 1) Mental health and post-trauma service provision. 2) Dignity and hygiene kits. 3) Rehabilitation, repairs, reconstruction of medical infrastructure 4) Chronic medications, as well as access to a comprehensive primary health care (PHC) package; and subsidies for reproductive health services. 5) Personal protective equipment (PPE), consumables and medical supplies needs to be replenished.
  5. Shelter: 63 per cent of households sustained a degree of damage to external doors, 52 per cent experienced shattered glass of windows and/or doors, 23 per cent of households reported damage to key structural components. Support with shelter repairs is the top priority in most areas, with over 35 per cent of the assessed households (6,100) relaying on it as their main priority.
  6. Legal issues are expected to arise as structural damage to homes generates housing, land and property issues
Funding:

The UN-coordinated response to the Beirut Port explosions, through the Flash Appeal issued on 14 August, is seeking US$344.5 million to address the immediate life-saving needs for the three months. The UN-pooled funds disbursed $14.5 million. The Lebanon Flash Appeal being less than 17 per cent funded.
Humanitarian response:
  • 7,339 weatherproofing kits distributed, and minor repairs and rehabilitation work supported.
  • Urban network connections in 155 buildings repaired.
  • At least 2,788 consultations and at least 1,116 wound-care sessions were provided to at least 7,689 patients. An additional 203 psychological first aid (PFA) sessions were provided, totaling over 2,900; 305 dignity kits were distributed; 26 case-management services were conducted; and over 9,000 households and individual assessments took place. At least 18,000 masks, and 2,000 sanitizers, gloves and drinking water were distributed to affected communities, and at least 19 PHCCs, eight hospitals and two medical mobile units were serviced. Almost 4,500 hygiene kits delivered.
  • Since the beginning of the response over 74,600 hot/ready-to-eat meals were distributed in 13 neighborhoods. 21200 households were provided with food vouchers and in-kind food parcels, 3000 households with selected food items.
  • 8,707 of the 12,500 metric tons of wheat flour arrived at Beirut Port offloaded.
  • 12 mobile storage units set up at Beirut Port for humanitarian goods and cargo.
  • Recreational activities, including sports-for-development sessions, were delivered for 186 youths and adolescents at the UNICEF tents in Quarantina, Karm al Areesh and Basta.
  • Awareness sessions to 1,009 pregnant and lactating women and caregivers were provided.
The United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team has left the country on 3 September. For further information, please contact: Séverine Rey, Head of Office, UN OCHA Lebanon, rey@.org, Tel: +961 71 802 640. Enrica Giacobbe, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, UN OCHA Lebanon, giacobbe@un.org, Tel: +961 71 907 855
For more information about the situation and response efforts, please see the Situation Report Nr. 9 or at https://www.humanitarianresponse.info.
Status of request for assistance
Based on information received from the Lebanese Arm Forces, there are no additional international USAR teams needed. The USAR Teams which have been accepted so far can be deployed.

Initial request for assistance from authorities in Beirut on 5 Aug: HAZMAT Team with chemical detection. 5 x USAR Teams with K9 Capability PPE for first responders Firefighting support for fires on a ship and at wheat silos PPE for Medical First Responders, bodybags, surgical clinical supplies Satellite imagery support.
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