Tropical
storm Jeanne devastated Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands before
hitting the Dominican Republic and Haiti on 16 and 17 September. Jeanne
is the fourth hurricane (downgraded to a tropical storm) to affect
the Caribbean, following close on the heels of hurricanes Charley,
Frances and Ivan, which have wreaked havoc on the Caribbean and parts
of the United States in a period of less than one month.
Following in the
wake of tropical storm Jeanne, heavy rains and raging flood waters
have caused extensive flooding in the northern area of Hispaniola
Island which comprises the Dominican Republic and Haiti. According
to the Dominican Red Cross, four people lost their lives and 13,216
people have been seriously affected by the winds and flooding in the
Dominican Republic.
Due to massive
deforestation, the worst affected country was Haiti, where two days
of lashing rains caused massive flooding in more than half of the
country. The affected departments are L’artibonite, Plateau Central,
Sud and the Nord-Ouest. The town of Gonaïves was severely hit
by the floods as well as Port de Paix.
According to the
UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti, who were deployed immediately following
the disaster, 500 bodies have been recovered in Gonaïves and
there are reports of 56 dead in Port de Paix, 18 in Chasolme, 14 in
Gros-Morne, 9 in Pilate and 9 in Ennery. The northern part of the
country was described by the Primer Minister as a "vast sea"
when he visited the area on 19th September. Floods and
landslides had previously affected Haiti in May this year leaving
at least 1,500 people dead and spreading devastation in the southern
part of the country.
ACT members in
Haiti - Christian Aid (CAID), Diakonie Emergency Aid (DEA), Fédération
Protestante d'Haiti (FPH), Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Service
Chrétien d'Haiti (SCH) are assessing the situation. They
report that the DEA office in Gonaïves was destroyed by the floods
and that the access to the affected area is only possible by air as
everything is under water. The ACT CO is in contact with the members
in Haiti and an appeal may be forthcoming.
