Perilous Times and Climate Change
Haiti braces itself for Hurricane Igor
The government of Haiti has made plans to relocate thousands of
homeless Haitians living in displaced persons camps as Hurricane Igor
threatens to bring further misery to the earthquake-ravaged country.
Published: 4:55PM BST 13 Sep 2010
The government of Haiti has made plans to relocate thousands of
homeless Haitians living in displaced persons camps as Hurricane Igor
threatens to bring further misery to the earthquake-ravaged country.
Hurricane Igor (bottom right) is expected to be the season's most
powerful storm Photo: GETTY
Haiti's Civil Protection Agency declared an "orange alert," warning
that several regions could be flooded as a result of heavy rains
expected as Igor drew nearer.
The Category Four hurricane is expected to hit Haiti within the next 48
hours.
"Listen to announcements, follow instructions and prepare to relocate
if it is necessary," said Nadia Lochard, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Ms Lochard explained that people living in camps that faced the danger
of flooding could be asked to relocate.
The January 12 earthquake killed about 300,000 people in Haiti made
another 1.3 million homeless, thousands of whom remain sheltered in
temporary refugee camps.
Tent cities have sprung up in and around the ruined capital of the
poorest country in the Americas, with little sign that those left
homeless and destitute will move into more permanent housing in the
near future.
International aid has been slow in coming, with only a fraction of the
funds promised for rebuilding efforts actually disbursed.
Earlier in the hurricane season, the United Nations identified 130 tent
cities as being at risk from rains and winds that could further worsen
conditions for the most vulnerable, including thousands of orphaned
children.