Storm affects the rescue of earthquake victims in Haiti, which already claims 1,941 dead – 08/17/2021 – World

a Storm blessing And torrential rains and floods, in the early hours of Tuesday (17), hit the Les Cayes region, on the southern coast of Haiti. One of the worst hit points in the city, 200 kilometers from the capital, Port-au-Prince, was a group of tents – many with children and children – set up to house families displaced by last Saturday’s earthquake (14).

On Tuesday morning, as the storm receded toward Jamaica and left only light rain in Haiti, more than 100 people were moving camp to fix temporary covers made of wooden poles and tarpaulins.

The storm was waiting with great anxiety, like Haiti is still counting earthquake damage, which has left at least 1,941 people dead, according to preliminary figures released on Tuesday. Les Cayes was one of the cities most affected.

In Jacmel, 92 kilometers from the capital, the streets of the coastal city were flooded, as shown in a video posted by local politician Deus Deronneth. “Once again, Byredo and Marigot were inundated,” he wrote.

Heavy rain affected the help arrive For hundreds of thousands looking for food, water or shelter. “Currently, about half a million children in Haiti have no or limited access to shelter, clean water, health care and nutrition,” said Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative (United Nations Children’s Fund).

The storm also affected the search for earthquake victims, although hopes of finding a large number of survivors had already been dashed when rain hit Les Cai.

“Countless Haitian families who lost everything in the earthquake are now literally living with their feet in the water due to the floods,” said Maes.

There were those who sought temporary shelter in the garages of houses, such as Vital Genkindi, whose building he lived in collapsed. He told Reuters he sleeps next to his neighbors under a tarpaulin on a road near the ruins of the building he plans to return to after Grace passes.

Jinkindi’s home is one of 37,000 homes destroyed in the earthquake, according to the country’s authorities. With many still in ruins, the death toll is expected to rise, but will not reach 200,000 visas in 2010.

Property damage is also counted in large hospitals, hampering humanitarian efforts, as well as at points of contact in many communities such as churches and schools.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) said it had resumed search operations Tuesday morning, after being suspended overnight, and that it was working with international partners to increase assistance. Despite the lack of expectations, rescue teams are still excavating with residents, amid the smell of dust and rotting corpses.

In hospitals, where more than 9,900 wounded are treated, the situation is chaotic. Outside, patients are staying in makeshift tents; Indoors, on stretchers scattered all over the hallways or on cramped beds in crowded rooms.

In addition, there is a shortage of professionals and health supplies. “We now have about 34 children in hospital, but we still need more help from pediatricians. SOS [sigla para socorro]They ran out of antibiotics and narcotics,” Mary Sherry, a physician at Les Cayes General Hospital, wrote in a text message sent to Reuters. Pediatrician Lucette Gideon, a volunteer in the temporary neonatal ward, told the news agency that antibiotics and narcotics had run out.

Among those serving overseas was one-month-old baby Marceline Charles, who was hit by a stone when her home collapsed. The debris also caused a deep wound to her 7-year-old daughter’s head. “I don’t know if she will survive,” he shouted.

Sometimes care does not arrive on time, as in the case of 26-year-old daughter Lanette Noel. “There weren’t enough doctors and now she’s dead,” he said, standing outside the hospital in Les Cay, next to the corpse covered in a white sheet.

Hundreds of people are in dire need of food, shelter and medical assistance, said Matthew Jameson, deputy chair of the committee set up by those housed in tents on Les Caye. “We don’t have a doctor. We don’t have food. We don’t have a bathroom and no place to sleep. We need food and umbrellas,” adding that the compound is still waiting for government assistance.

The country’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, has promised stronger humanitarian aid than in 2010. Billions of dollars in aid money saved To Haiti after the earthquake and Hurricane Matthew (in 2016), many Haitians say they saw little direct benefit due to uncoordinated efforts – government agencies remained weak, and food and food shortages persisted.

Recent climate tragedies have also hit a country mired in a political crisis, exacerbated by it Assassination of President Jovenel Moise on July 7. Getting to Les Cayes, for example, was already complicated, with gangs controlling important roads in the country.

Despite the situation in the country, the United States said it has no intention of sending military personnel, according to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. On Tuesday, he said it was too early to gauge the earthquake’s impact on Haiti’s political process.

Concern about Storm Grace now shifts to Jamaica, which has already seen torrential rain and roads strewn with rain, and Mexico, where it is expected to become a hurricane Thursday (19), according to the US National Hurricane Center.