Operation USA, a Los Angeles- based international disaster relief group, announced on Sunday it will send emergency assistance to Cuba in response of the devastation wrought by hurricanes.
"As a result of the Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, nearly 440,000 homes were damaged and almost two million people were displaced into temporary shelters," said Richard Walden, president of Operation USA. "We're rushing aid to Cuba, including water purification materials and medical supplies."
Operation USA, which has been licensed by the U.S. government to provide private humanitarian aid to Cuba since 1994, provides aid to the country's main paediatric hospitals.
Hurricane Paloma is forecast to hit Camaguey and eastern Las Tunas, Granma and Holquin provinces in Cuba, the same regions that were hit recently by Gustav and Ike. In preparation of Paloma, an evacuation has been ordered for more than a half million people from the coast and other vulnerable areas.
"The residents of this already vulnerable region are at great risk from this new hurricane, the third to hit Cuba in just 60 days," Walden said.
Almost 67 years ago, a cyclone similar to Paloma killed 3,000 people.
Operation USA will also stage a benefit concert Nov. 29 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium near Los Angeles to raise funds for relief efforts in Cuba, Haiti and the U.S., said Christine Oppenheim, a spokesperson for Operation USA.