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November 2004                                                                            Volume 7 - Number 2

Hurricane Update...

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Hurricane Jeanne Devastates Haiti,
Tom Davy

Heavy rains from Hurricane Jeanne (at the time, classified as a Tropical Storm) inundated Haiti's northern region and sent deadly mudslides through towns and villages on Sept. 18-19. Typical of the devastation in Haiti was the city of Gonaives. The storm left an estimated 80% of the city of 104,000 in urgent need of drinking water, food, shelter and medical care.

The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) reported that the infrastructure in Gonaives, already weakened by years of instability and chronic underdevelopment, is now almost destroyed. Specific concerns included: tension due to no Haitian Police present; hospital inaccessible (e.g. regional pharmacy under water); CARE food ware house flooded; and people on roofs and in trees. PAHO also reported that not a house escaped damage.

PAHO reported that the municipal drinking water system in many towns was destroyed; there are no functioning health structures, and electric and telecommunication systems are extremely limited. Receding water levels have left large amounts of mud and wreckage in the streets. Fuel supplies are limited as are the possibilities of moving around in the city. Carcasses of pigs, goats and dogs still floated in muddy waters slowly receding from the streets days after the storms ended. Water borne illnesses including diarrhea and gastroenteritis, already endemic in Haiti, spiked in the weeks after the storms ended. Considering that the “normal” Haitian potable water system reaches 47% of the population in the Port-au-Prince area, 46% in secondary cities, and 48% in rural areas. In 1999, coverage with excreta disposal systems was 44% in urban areas and 18% in rural areas.

The storm is responsible for about 3,000 deaths and left about 300,000 homeless. The exact numbers of people stricken with hurricane-related illness will never be known.

Relief efforts were undertaken by the US (which was currently caring for over a million victims of the season’s four hurricanes), World Health Organization/Pan-American Health Organization, and numerous NGOs such as the ICRC.

The World Food Program (WFO) continues to report in October that the security situation has worsened further in both Gonaives and Port au Prince, limiting the ability of the humanitarian community to operate. Even in the capital Port-au-Prince, the port is functioning erratically and convoys as well as distributions have had to be cancelled. The situation in the capital's port, which has been blocked since the 30th of September, is still uncertain.