By PATRICIA PIXLER, Student Writer
The Caribbean and southeastern portion of the United States were assaulted by Hurricane Matthew last week. Among those countries affected has been Haiti, the disaster-stricken country known as the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
Hurricane Matthew made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on the Tiburon Peninsula of southern Haiti on Tuesday, October 4th. A category-4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale means winds of 130-156 mph and severe damage to well-built homes with trees blown over, according to the BBC. Hurricane Matthew has been the strongest hurricane in the Caribbean in a decade. For Haiti, Hurricane Matthew has been the strongest to hit the country since Hurricane Cleo, which was also a category-4 hurricane, in 1964.
Hurricane Matthew is devastating to Haiti in particular, given the country’s difficulty in rebuilding after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince in 2010. According to the New York Times, the earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince, killed over 300,000 people, and affected 3 million citizens according to Haitian government estimates. Humanitarian efforts continue even now, with infrastructure and sanitation needs still struggling to be met. Before Hurricane Matthew, an estimated 55,000 Haitians were still living in shelters six years after the earthquake. That number is expected to climb rapidly.
Only months after the 2010 earthquake, a cholera outbreak hit Port-au-Prince due to the lack of clean water and sanitation needs. Partners in Health, an aid agency in Haiti, told the New York Times that there had been another spike in cholera this year, with 26,000 cases. Already fears of another cholera epidemic after Hurricane Matthew have begun, with a lack of clean water available in the hardest-hit southern part of Haiti.
According to the New York Times, humanitarian efforts have been affected by damage to a bridge connecting the southern part of Haiti to Port-au-Prince. Without the bridge, the power lines and phone lines that have also suffered damage, all reports from the southern area of Haiti have come from air or sea. Relief efforts have to be done in the same matter, limiting how much is able to be transported at once.
According to the BBC, aerial surveillance has shown that the southern Haitian city of Jeremie has been 80% demolished, with a sea of destroyed houses and infrastructure left in the hurricane’s path.
The current number of causalities stands at 800 with another 350,000 people in need of assistance but the numbers are expected to jump dramatically when contact is re-established with the southern part of Haiti. It is estimated contact won’t be established until the 14th or 15th of October, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Matthew hit the mainland.
Besides the 145 mph winds that hit Haiti and destroyed homes, crops and livelihoods, the country now also has to contend with the flooding. Weather reports had estimates of 40-inches of rain in some places, with most towns having 15 to 25-inches of rain as Hurricane Matthew crossed the country. What crops weren’t destroyed in the wind are now expected to struggle to survive through the floods.
Due to the relief efforts after the 2010 earthquake, numerous relief aid organizations are still present in Haiti and they have renewed efforts to assist those in need. The Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal for $6.9 million dollars in relief aid for 50,000 Haitians. The United States has sent the USS Mesa Verde to assist, as well as nine military helicopters to help deliver food and water to southern Haiti.
Other relief organizations in the country include Heifer International, Mercy Corps, and Partners in Health. All are accepting donations.