Hurricane Matthew: Death toll soars in Haiti
- 8 years ago
More than 300 people have died in Haiti and the death toll is expected to rise as rescuers reach the worst-affected areas cut-off by the storm.
The town of Jeremie has suffered near-total destruction after Hurricane Matthew hit, flattening 80 per cent of its buildings.
“Between 6 and 7.30am it was the worst. Then we thought it was over. And everybody came out and they spent about an hour. Then it started over again and it was the worst part of it,” local resident Donny Sant-Germain told a reporter.
Humanitarian Crisis
Phone lines are down and aid groups are struggling to deliver life-saving assistance. With entire crop harvests destroyed the World Food Programme and UNICEF are scaling up their operations. The Haitian government says 350,000 people are in immediate need of humanitarian assistance.
“After visiting the shelter, I’ve realised there isn’t any water. We can’t help the people, there’s no food. And there are additional problems given the way people are living in the shelters,” said Head of Operations for the Haitian Red Cross, Moise David.
Cases of cholera are expected to rise after water supplies and sanitation systems were damaged.
pensées à la population d’Haïti suite à l’ouragan Matthew pic.twitter.com/klpsdEVPZq— Aleksandre (@alzks_) October 7, 2016
The town of Jeremie has suffered near-total destruction after Hurricane Matthew hit, flattening 80 per cent of its buildings.
“Between 6 and 7.30am it was the worst. Then we thought it was over. And everybody came out and they spent about an hour. Then it started over again and it was the worst part of it,” local resident Donny Sant-Germain told a reporter.
Humanitarian Crisis
Phone lines are down and aid groups are struggling to deliver life-saving assistance. With entire crop harvests destroyed the World Food Programme and UNICEF are scaling up their operations. The Haitian government says 350,000 people are in immediate need of humanitarian assistance.
“After visiting the shelter, I’ve realised there isn’t any water. We can’t help the people, there’s no food. And there are additional problems given the way people are living in the shelters,” said Head of Operations for the Haitian Red Cross, Moise David.
Cases of cholera are expected to rise after water supplies and sanitation systems were damaged.
pensées à la population d’Haïti suite à l’ouragan Matthew pic.twitter.com/klpsdEVPZq— Aleksandre (@alzks_) October 7, 2016