Men walking on a flooded road outside Gonaives. September 3, 2008.
Photo by REUTERS/Stringer
After Hurricane Gustav last week, Tropical Storm Hanna caused serious damage to Haiti’s coastline on 1 September and 2 September. Many towns are flooded and have become difficult, if not impossible, to reach.
According to authorities, 25,000 to 30,000 houses were destroyed and up to 500 people have died. People have very little food and clean water and major crops have been destroyed.
On Thursday, an MSF team of eight medical and non-medical personnel arrived in Gonaïves to clean out the Rabouteau Health Center, the only working centre (out of 4 health centers and one hospital) after the floods. Thanks to the support of local people, MSF was able to clean the facility, supply medicine, and restart the operating room. On Friday, MSF conducted 110 consultations, treated 49 injured people and carried out 16 surgical procedures.
On Saturday, people started fleeing the city by the thousands to seek refuge, after authorities warned of the arrival of Hurricane Ike. The Rabouteau Health Center remains the only working health centre in the town.
A critical concern is the lack of clean water for the city’s inhabitants. All local water sources were contaminated by the flooding. This concern is compounded by the fact that most of the local medical staff have fled the area.
MSF has not been able to reach many areas of the city given the flooding, making it difficult to properly assess the scope of needs of the population. An MSF physician went on Saturday to Saint Michel de l’Atalaye, where 400 people have been stranded without food or water for 5 days. MSF brought one child to Gonaïves for surgical care and distributed food and water from the World Food Programme.
A three-person MSF team went to Cap Haïtien to assess the emergency response capacities and establish local contacts to help immediately assess needs in aftermath of Hurricane Ike. MSF teams have not been able to reach many of the flooded areas on the eastern side of the community. Hospitals and health centres are reported to have been seriously damaged in this area.
Ike, a category four hurricane, has now reached Haiti’s neighborhood and rains have started again.