After Ike, Haiti's Needs Mount

Haiti's government estimates 600 people are dead and another 850,000 people affected by four strong storms that pelted the country in the past month.

All 10 departments in Haiti have been affected by severe flooding, landslides, and wind and sea surge damages caused by four tropical events from August 9 through September 7.

The most severely flood-affected areas include the city of Gonaives with a population of about 500,000. Rural areas of Hinche, Central Department, Cabaret and Aracahaie, among others, were also hit hard by the storms and resulting floods.

All Catholic Relief Services employees are reported safe, and CRS offices are fully operational.

To date, CRS Haiti has provided food rations to over 4,300 families in 6 departments of Haiti. Other items provided include bottled water, hygiene kits, household items (sheets, clothing and mattresses), and other essentials to an additional 1,000 families

CRS Haiti is distributing 2,200 hygiene kits in Gonaives and Port de Paix. We also have plans to provide ready-to-eat food rations and essentials for the same families now affected by Hurricane Gustav.

Fourth Storm of Season

Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna were the first major storms of the season to pound the island where people were already suffering from the lack of food, due to extreme poverty and a global food crisis. Then came Hurricane Ike on Sunday. With its high winds and thunderous rains, it became the fourth storm this season to batter Haiti, Cuba and other islands of the Caribbean.

Throughout sections of Haiti, high floodwaters have turned neighborhoods into murky rivers. Crops that would have provided relief from the food crisis lay ruined under water. The northern coastal city of Gonaives, capital of Haiti's Artibonite department, was one of the hardest hit areas with nearly 10 feet of flood water in some sections. Over 3,000 homes were destroyed in the city alone. CRS relief staff made their way to Gonaives on Saturday September 6 with food, water and hygiene supplies.

"When we got to the city, it was clear that the water had gone up as high as 10 feet. You could see grass and debris stuck above entryways of houses, trucks flipped over. Since it was drying out, we saw people trying to restart their lives. They were laying out papers and clothes," said Holly Inurreta, a CRS regional technical advisor for emergencies.

"Think of your images of people after Katrina: You have people sitting on roofs just waiting for the water to go down. There were people crawling on top of vehicles trying to get to the second floor. Where there was no water, there was 3 to 6 inches of mud," Inurreta said.

In Gonaives, CRS and our partners provide much-needed health care including AIDS treatment to thousands of families. CRS' Olivia Dumoulin was in Gonaives when the floods began. In her latest blog post, Dumoulin says that dozens of residents—mostly those stranded on rooftops—died when the torrential rains bore down. Severe flooding of the city hospital prompted its medical director to call for an evacuation of all patients. In a September 5 letter the local bishop of Gonaives made an urgent appeal for help. Trapped in his home with 500 other people, he says residents have no food, water or electricity.

Epic Storm for Cuba

Nearby Cuba also took a beating, as Gustav was the most severe hurricane to hit the island in 50 years. Its 150-mile-per-hour winds toppled homes, ripped out telephone lines and washed out roads.

On Isla de la Juventud, inhabited by some 80,000 residents, low-lying areas are flooded. Some roads, including those in the provincial capital city, Nueva Gerona, have been washed away or made impassable by fallen trees and power lines. Meanwhile, every home and building on the island has lost a roof or window. In addition to the Cuban government's relief efforts, Caritas Cubana is visiting communities to assess damage and needs. Some of the critical needs include food and hygiene supplies such as soaps and detergents.

Once the scope of damage is assessed, CRS, working through Caritas, plans to respond with additional relief supplies to meet the needs of those hit hardest by the hurricane.

Haiti Submerged

Gustav struck Haiti as a Category 1 storm while families were still recovering from the effects of Tropical Storm Fay, which touched down in Haiti three weeks ago. Gustav dumped between 6 and 12 inches of rain in parts of the island, triggering floods and landslides which ultimately killed 77 people. With only 1 percent of Haiti's extremely degraded terrain covered by forest, floodwaters raged down the country's bare mountainsides and onto tin-shack communities unable to withstand the pressure.

Riding the coattails of Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna made its way north of the island Monday (September 1), bringing more rain to an already critical situation. All of the country's 10 departments have now suffered severe flooding. In the southern city of Les Cayes, water is at knee level or higher. On the southern coast, the bridge that spans La Rivine du Sud, one of the region's largest rivers, is in danger of collapsing as water levels rise.

A People Suffering

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with more than two-thirds of Haitians living on less than a dollar a day. Occupying the western third of the island of Hispaniola, Haiti, which is slightly larger than the state of Maryland, is home to about 8 million people.

The storms drenched already fragile farmland in a country suffering from the high prices of food, most of which is imported. While the amount of crop acreage destroyed is still unclear, this year's harvest would have provided some relief to suffering families.

CRS' Work in Haiti

With more than 50 years of experience in Haiti, CRS is now one of the largest U.S. humanitarian organizations working in the country. Serving nearly 200,000 of the poorest and most marginalized Haitians, our projects provide assistance with health and nutrition, disaster recovery, education, water and sanitation, HIV and AIDS, agriculture, and migration.

CRS' Work in Cuba

CRS has worked with Caritas Cubana, the Catholic Church's relief agency, to provide emergency, humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable and needy people in Cuba since 1993.

Over the years, CRS has delivered $26 million in medicine, medical supplies, food and clothing to Cuba for distribution in hospitals, homes for the elderly, and to children with Down syndrome and other vulnerable groups.

The CRS Cuba office is located at CRS headquarters in Baltimore. Our programs are overseen by a country manager in consultation with the Catholic Church in Cuba.