- The terrible situation in Haiti worsened after a major earthquake, followed by heavy rains and floods.
- So far, the earthquake has killed at least 1,941 people who desperately need food, shelter, medical care and supplies.
- Flash floods and landslides complicate rescue efforts that are further hindered by political turmoil and road traffic.
Les Cases-The survivors of the earthquake that killed at least 1,941 people in Haiti on Tuesday shouted for food, shelter and medical services. After the tropical storm hit the Caribbean countries, search and rescue efforts resumed, causing dangerous flooding.
The earthquake damage in several major hospitals hindered humanitarian work. Doctors in makeshift tents outside were struggling to save the lives of many injured, including young children and the elderly. But they cannot help all of them.
“There are not enough doctors, now she is dead,” said Lanette Nuel, who was sitting listlessly next to her daughter’s body outside the main hospital in Les Cayes, one of the towns hardest hit by earthquakes and storms.
The 26-year-old deceased was the mother of two children and was crushed by debris in the magnitude 7.2 earthquake. Now she was lying under a white sheet on the floor.
Her mother said:
We came in yesterday afternoon and she passed away this morning. I can’t do anything.
Saturday’s earthquake destroyed tens of thousands of buildings in the poorest country in the Americas, which is still recovering from the earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people 11 years ago. The Civil Defense Department said on Tuesday afternoon that in addition to the dead, the recent earthquake has injured at least 9,915 people, and many are still missing or under the rubble.
Due to political turmoil and because gangs control key points, the road from the capital to the south is difficult to access, and rescue work has been complicated. Flash floods and landslides after tropical storm Grace continued to pass through Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon, exacerbating the situation.
Bruno Metz, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the country, said:
Countless Haitian families who lost everything due to the earthquake are now living in the water due to flooding.
“Currently, approximately 500,000 Haitian children have limited or no access to shelter, safe water, medical care and nutrition.”
“Unable to handle all patients”
The United Nations said it has allocated 8 million U.S. dollars in emergency funds to provide relief to the people affected by the disaster.
Latin American countries including Venezuela, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Colombia and the neighboring Dominican Republic have shipped food, medicine and supplies. The United States also sent supplies and search and rescue teams.
Although criminal groups have been blocking roads for months, the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs stated that “successful negotiations” made it possible for the convoy to reach Lekay.
Les Cayes Hospital, located about 150 kilometers west of the capital Port-au-Prince, was more overwhelmed on Tuesday than before, as patients who had been camping outside moved indoors to avoid tropical storms.
Director Peterson Gerd said that medical staff are doing their best. “We can’t handle all patients,” he said. “And we have been receiving supplies, but this is not enough.”
In Les Cayes, a tent city with many children and babies, more than a hundred people scrambled to repair temporary coverings made of wooden poles and tarps, which were destroyed by Grace overnight. Some people hide under the plastic sheet.
Matthew Jameson, deputy director of the committee composed of residents of Tent City, said there are hundreds of people in urgent need of food, shelter and medical services.
The Tent City is still waiting for government assistance. Jameson said:
We don’t have a doctor. We have no food. More people arrive every morning. We have no bathroom and no place to sleep. We need food, we need more umbrellas.
The most recent natural disaster in Haiti occurred after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on July 7. The country fell into political turmoil for just over a month.
Rotten smell
US National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan said on Tuesday that it is too early to assess the impact of the earthquake on the political process in Haiti, and that the country’s main donor, the United States, currently has no plans to deploy troops there.
Rescuers have been digging up rubble with residents to get close to survivors. The Haitian Civil Defense Authority stated that 16 people were found alive along with 9 deaths on Tuesday morning.
But hope was dashing, and the air was filled with the smell of dust and rotting corpses.
Maria Fleurant, a firefighter from northern Haiti, said:
We came to help from all directions: from the north, from Port-au-Prince, from all over the world.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was sworn in less than a month after Moiz’s assassination, vowed to provide better humanitarian aid than after the 2010 earthquake.
Although billions of dollars in aid flooded into Haiti after the earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016, many Haitians said they had benefited little from uncoordinated efforts: government agencies remained weak, food and basic commodities Continued shortages.
“The earthquake is a great misfortune that happened in the middle of the hurricane season,” Henry told reporters. He said the government will not repeat the “same things” it did in 2010.
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