Floods and landslides hit seven of the country’s 10 departments over the weekend
Heavy rains fell on the Haiti over the weekend and left at least 42 dead and 11 missing, according to the civil protection balance sheet this Monday, 5. The bad weather caused severe flooding and landslides in seven of 10 departments in the country, which is plunged into a humanitarian crisis fueled by gang violence. According to UN, the rains affected 37,000 people and displaced 13,400. The city of Léogane, located 40 km southeast of the capital, Port-au-Prince, was particularly affected, with three rivers flooding. At least 20 people died there, according to the first balance of rescuers. “Residents are desperate. They lost everything. The waters devastated their fields, carried away their cattle,” the mayor of Léogane, Ernson Henry, told AFP. Thousands of families have been affected in his community, he added, noting that the population needs food, clean water and emergency medicine. These floods also caused significant material damage to the country, destroying hundreds of homes and roads.
“Although it is not a cyclone or a tropical storm, the damage observed in the affected regions is considerable”, lamented, in a note, Jean-Martin Bauer, UN coordinator of humanitarian action in Haiti. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry activated the National Emergency Operation Center (COUN). This balance sheet reveals the country’s vulnerability to natural catastrophes, when the cyclone season is just beginning. Haiti is in the midst of a severe humanitarian crisis, with nearly half the population in need of humanitarian assistance, twice as many as five years ago, according to the UN.
*With information from AFP
Source: Jovempan
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