The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is airlifting more than 45 metric tons of critical relief supplies-including emergency shelter materials, hygiene kits, water containers, and blankets-to Dominica, St. Maarten, and St. Kitts & Nevis to assist people affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Four flights are delivering relief supplies from USAID's emergency warehouse in Miami, Florida, to the Caribbean. Two flights landed yesterday, and another two flights are scheduled to arrive today. USAID previously delivered relief supplies to hard-hit Antigua and Barbuda, as well as The Bahamas. With this week's flights, USAID will have airlifted more than 151 metric tons of relief supplies for hurricane relief efforts in the Caribbean.

The USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), which deployed to the region on September 7, is coordinating closely with local governments, the U.S. military, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, the United Nations, and Non-Governmental Organizations to rapidly distribute aid to affected communities in the region. In addition, USAID has requested the unique capabilities of the U.S. Department of Defense, Southern Command, which is providing logistics support, in addition to water-desalination services on the island of St. Martin.

To date, the United States has provided nearly $7.3 million in humanitarian assistance for the Hurricane Irma and Maria responses.