The Haiti authorities yesterday announced the beginning of three
days of national mourning for those killed by Hurricane Matthew, which
devastated the south of the country.
At least 900 people are believed to have died. Tens of thousands
of homes have been destroyed and some 350, 000 people need aid, the government
said.
Cholera is a major fear, with several deaths reported, as are food
supplies, given the destruction of crops.
Matthew went on to barrel up the south-eastern coast of the US,
killing 10. It caused extensive flooding, power cuts and damage to buildings in
Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
“At 02:00 local time (06:00 GMT), the now Category 1 Matthew
Hurricane was about 30km (18 miles) off the coast of Cedar Island in North
Carolina and heading north-east, further out to sea, at 16mph (25km/h),” the
National Hurricane Center said.
Matthew passed directly through Haiti’s Tiburon
peninsula-encompassing Haiti’s entire southern coast-driving the sea inland and
flattening homes with winds of up to 230km/h (145mph) and torrential rain.
The international aid response in Haiti was now “beginning to pick
up”, according to Stephane Rolland, regional coordinator for the International
Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).
But the challenges remain immense, given the difficulties with
infrastructure and reaching remote areas.
The official death toll remains at 336, but the government says
this tally only includes fatalities confirmed by visits to villages. Many have
not been reached due to collapsed roads and bridges, although the country’s
Civil Protection Agency said the number would rise after declaring 877 deaths
on Friday.
Cholera’s short incubation period causes speedy outbreaks and
deaths can be quick without treatment. The disease was brought to Haiti by UN
peacekeepers after the earthquake of 2010 and has killed about 10, 000 people.
The destruction of crops has been almost total in many parts of
the Tiburon peninsula, with loss of livestock also bad.
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