Hurricane Causes Floods in Haiti

Hurricane Tomas recently skirted the shores of Haiti, leaving behind torrential rains and high winds that have threatened to spread a cholera epidemic that has already been killing and sickening people in the country, say Christian Reformed World Relief Committee officials.

Jos Joosse, the CRWRC’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Program Consultant, reported that many churches remained open for prayer as the rains hit shore. Offices, shops, and schools were closed in the wake of the weather.

Although earthquake-ravaged Haiti escaped a fresh disaster from Hurricane Tomas, the storm forced thousands from their homes. But it largely spared crowded camps in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital that is housing 1.3 million quake survivors, say news outlets. Six have people died from the floods.

United Nations officials said Haiti was lucky it was not harder hit by Tomas, an unpredictable late hurricane in the busy 2010 Atlantic hurricane season.

"People were well prepared, there was good cooperation between the government and the aid community and we have avoided the worst," said Elisabeth Diaz, spokeswoman for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

With flooding reported in a number of locations, aid workers told news agencies that the two-week cholera epidemic that has killed more than 440 people and sickened more than 6,700 could worsen. The deadly diarrheal disease is transmitted by contaminated water and food.

One of the worst hit zones was Leogane, a town west of Port-au-Prince badly damaged in the January earthquake. Some 90,000 people there were already living in tent camps. The CRWRC is working in this area.

CRWRC has been meeting weekly with WASH committees in Croix des Peres, Flon, Luitor, Macombe, and Masson, the villages where the majority of CRWRC's relief response is occurring.

Education programs for the prevention of cholera have begun in earnest, with four CRWRC members crisscrossing the villages in a vehicle equipped with loudspeakers, distributing soap and chlorine tablets.  

CRWRC is in the process of building 1,200 permanent, hurricane-resistant homes at the increased rate of 50 homes per week. So far over 500 homes have been built, providing shelter to more than 6,000 Haitians. To prepare for the arrival of Tomas, CRWRC also distributed new tarps to replace tarps in need of repair for those who have not yet moved into more permanent shelter. 

To support CRWRC’s work in Haiti, donate online: US | Canada

Checks, marked "Haiti Earthquake 2010", can also be sent to:

CRWRC-US
2850 Kalamazoo Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49560
Ph: 1-800-55-CRWRC

CRWRC-Canada
3475 Mainway
P.O. Box 5070 STN LCD
Burlington, Ontario, L7R 3Y8

To read more about CRWRC's work in Haiti,
visit www.crwrc.org/haiti