The severe earthquake in Haiti killed hundreds of people. An approaching storm threatens to worsen the situation in the Caribbean country.
Saint-Louis-du-Sud – Amid rescue operations in Haiti after Saturday’s devastating earthquake, a tropical storm is approaching the Caribbean country.
According to the US hurricane center, the low pressure area “Grace” moves south along the island of Hispaniola – which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic – with sustained winds of up to 55 kilometers per hour.
From Monday evening (local time) the center of the storm with heavy rains is expected on Haiti’s south coast. According to the latest information from the Haitian civil defense, at least 1297 people were killed in the quake. The number is expected to increase.
The rain could not only hinder the rescue work but cause even more suffering for the survivors. Many of them spent the nights since the quake outside in front of their damaged houses, with blankets and the little furniture they could save.
The affected area in the south and southwest of Haiti around the cities of Les Cayes and Jérémie was littered with rubble; Houses were everywhere in pictures, the roofs of which had collapsed like cardboard. Residents wait for help or wander aimlessly in shock.
The quake occurred on Saturday morning (local time) around twelve kilometers from the municipality of Saint-Louis-du-Sud at a depth of around ten kilometers. According to the civil protection authorities, at least 13,700 houses were destroyed and the same number damaged. More than 30,000 families are affected.
Big concern about storm “Grace”
“Grace” threatens to worsen the situation in areas that are already in great difficulty, the agency said. She called on the population to prepare. For the many people who have lost everything, however, there is little they can do to arm themselves. The US hurricane center warned of floods and landslides.
Aid from abroad is now starting, and German organizations are also making commitments. A search and rescue team from the US Agency for Development Cooperation (USAID) with 65 people, 4 dogs and around 24,000 kilograms of equipment reached the Caribbean state on Monday night. People are being searched for in the rubble, medical care is being organized for the injured survivors, and roads after landslides are being made passable again with excavators.
Location is chaotic
According to Caritas International, food, drinking water, tents and medical first aid are the most important things that are needed. The local situation is still chaotic and the extent of the disaster cannot yet be foreseen, the organization said.
The new disaster hit a country that was extremely poorly prepared for such an event even after the devastating earthquake of 2010 with more than 220,000 deaths. There are hardly any possibilities for medical care for the injured, said Barbara Küpper, country officer for Haiti at the Misereor organization. The situation in the hospitals and health stations was “completely inadequate due to the catastrophic social and political situation even before the earthquake”.
Of the large amount of money pledged from abroad for reconstruction after the 2010 earthquake, the average Haitian saw little . A large part was wasted and corrupted. Because of a lack of funds and corruption, new houses were not necessarily built to be earthquake-proof.
Health system is overworked
The already severely underfunded health system has been overstretched by the pandemic – in which the number of infections and deaths has recently risen sharply. In addition, there is a deep political crisis following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse by a commando in his residence on July 7th.
According to the UN, violence by brutal gangs fighting for control of areas has displaced thousands of people – especially in the capital Port-au-Prince – and led to supply bottlenecks due to road blockades. The latter could also make relief operations more difficult after the quake.
Hospitals are completely overburdened. In the courtyard of a hospital in Jérémie, injured people are waiting in tents for their treatment, as can be seen in a video on social networks. After the 2010 earthquake – which at 7.0 was slightly weaker than the new earthquake, but whose center was closer to the densely populated capital – some of the initially temporary tent cities had become permanent settlements due to the lack of funds for reconstruction. dpa
