Heavy Rains/floods hit Haiti hard
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Heavy Rains/floods hit Haiti hard*
16 May 2007 12:07:46 GMT
Source: Concern Worldwide - Ireland
In Haiti, the rainy season runs officially from May to July and
coincides with hurricane season in the Caribbean, which runs from June
to November. However, this year in Haiti the rains came early.
Early flooding
In March, 11 people died and 1,584 families lost their houses due to
flooding in various localities across the country. It's a sign of
Haiti's vulnerability that this could happen after "only" four days of
moderate to heavy rainfall due to a cold weather front. The Haitian
government made funds available to the Civil Protection Department to
help victims. MINUSTAH (UN Mission in Haiti) also gave support to
improve access in areas where road conditions made them inaccessible by car.
Impact on Concern's work
None of Concern's project areas were affected and national authorities
did not call for a general mobilisation, meaning that they felt local
agencies were able to manage with some help from the government and the UN.
Disaster response
Concern Haiti has, as part of its Disaster Risk Reduction programme, a
depot with emergency supplies and kits which will be distributed in the
case of an emergency. Concern has two types of kit: kitchen kits, which
contain kitchen/cooking utensils, pots, dishes and cutlery; and hygiene
kits, which contain basins, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and buckets.
Each kit caters for a family of five. Concern also provides plastic
sheeting, blankets and linen when necessary.