Hurricane Ike has claimed an additional 40 deaths, this time in Cabaret, outside near Port-au-Prince, after Hurricane Hanna killed 500 in Gonaïves in northern Haiti. Around 800,000 Haitians have had to face rising floodwaters and treacherous mudslides. UNICEF put the number displaced at 650,000 people, including about 300,000 children. Many have lost their homes or had to climb onto roofs as the water engulfed their houses.

Many of the inhabitants of flood-beset Gonaïves, nearly 85 percent of which was underwater, are currently sheltering in nearby Camak, placing heavy strain on supplies there and making it a critical target for aid efforts. As many as 250,000 people in Gonaïves were in serious need of help and about 500 injured people were also removed by helicopter from Gonaïves to receive treatment in Port-au-Prince.

International aid organizations have been distributing food, safe water, purification tablets, and blankets. Elizabeth Byrs, a spokesperson for the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, explained that in Gonaïves “[t]he World Food Programme (WFP) has distributed over 170 tons, 60,000 litres in bottle of potable water, 80,000 litres of potable water, hygiene kits and plastic sheeting. But we are very worried because some parts of the city are completely flooded.”

However, she revealed that the UN personnel there “have a logistical nightmare because of the destruction of the roads. The two major roads to Gonaïves are blocked by fallen trees and debris, and a bridge collapsed on the only road which was accessible to light trucks.” Other bridges have also fallen and some roads have been rendered impassible due to landslides. The extent of some of the problems is still simply unknown.

Critical provisions arrived in Gonaïves on Friday via boat and helicopter but the passage of Ike over the weekend has only hurt the situation there. Nils Kastberg, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean said late last week, “The initial push to provide aid to Gonaives is a start, but there is a great deal more to be done to help children and families that have been affected by the storms throughout the entire country.”

Hédi Annabi, head of the UN mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, was just in Gonaïves and told the international community, “I came here to express my sympathy, my solidarity, solidarity of MINUSTAH and the UN system towards the people of Gonaïves” and also promised that he and his staff will do whatever they can to help the hundreds of thousands of Haitians left in need of help after the storms.

MINUSTAH has also been coordinating with other humanitarian actors including the Haitian government, the WFP, and UNICEF. The mission has not been able to be as effective as it would like because, explained spokesperson Sophie Boutaud de la Combe late last week, “It was really, really difficult even for our troops to assist the population due to the level of the water.”

The UN has sought aid to support its operation in Haiti including a Flash Appeal by UNICEF, which also released over $1 million for humanitarian initiatives. But other nations in the area, including Cuba , the Dominican Republic , and Jamaica , are also hard hit Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said on Friday, “We are faced with a combination, once again, of severe natural disasters in a number of places which is stretching our resources.”

The hurricanes also come in the context of ongoing instability in Haiti . In a report issued last week by the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon said that progress has been slow and halting and endorsed extending MINUSTAH a further year. Following precipitous rises in the cost of food and fuel, Haiti saw six days of serious unrest in April and foot-dragging in choosing a Prime Minister has also fueled discontent.

The Secretary-General held that, “Urgent tasks that demand priority attention by the Government… include the adoption of short-term measures that can respond to the immediate needs of the Haitian people and help them cope with the ongoing global food and fuel crisis.” It is more critical than ever now that this advice is heeded as Haiti recovers from the hurricanes, lest the country experience a dangerous resurgence of violence.

--- Caroline Patton

Labels: United Nations, U.N., MaximsNews

 

Advertisement

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MaximsNews® LLC   NEWS NETWORK FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

MaximsNews Network® LLC is a Global News Network that is read worldwide, in 201 countries and territories. MaximsNewsNetwork is associated with MediaChannel.org and Globalvision News Network, global news and media information services with more than 350 news affiliates in 135 countries. 

Established in 1999, MaximsNews now publishes in the six UN working languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.  

SEE:  About MaximsNews

The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of MaximsNews® LLC.

REACH THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE  

SEE: Advertise with MaximsNews | MaximsNews MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS      

MaximsNews.com U.N. ® LLC  www.MaximsNews.com | MaximsNews@MaximsNews.com           | CONTACT MaximsNews  | Please contact us about Republishing: Syndication@MaximsNews.com ©Copyrights 1999 - 2008, MaximsNews® LLC. All rights reserved.