Global Updates

Tuesday 9 September 2008

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Latest news

Rain from Hurricane Ike deepens misery left by Hanna, Gustav

As rains from Hurricane Ike drench northern Haiti, World Vision continues its relief activities for communities still reeling from the effects of Hurricanes Hanna and Gustav. The agency’s staff also assisted people as they evacuated to higher and safer ground in northern Haiti on Saturday.

Haiti has been hard hit over the past two weeks by a succession of hurricanes and tropical rains. Over 130 people have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced. Overland access to a large portion of northwest Haiti is cut off by washed-out bridges and roads, making food scarce. Meanwhile, the beginning of the school year has been delayed for at least a month, creating an additional hardship for children growing up in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

The storms have damaged the next mango crop, which is Haiti’s only viable export crop, and the loss of this income will hurt farmers. Much of the country already struggles to feed itself in an ongoing food crisis caused by higher global food prices, among other factors.

“The only good news here is that Hurricane Ike’s path was far enough north that Haiti did not take another direct hit,” said Wesley Charles, World Vision’s national director in Haiti. “But the rains from Ike have made it even more difficult for aid workers to get into some of the worst-flooded areas. People are becoming increasingly desperate.” Access to many of the hard-hit areas remains a critical challenge, Charles emphasised. In the devastated city of Gonaive, 10,000 people are crammed into 115 shelters.

World Vision response

Despite ongoing access challenges, World Vision has provided ten-day food rations to about 450 families on the island of La Gonave, 1,100 hygiene kits to displaced people in the Central Plateau, and clothing and shelter materials to 300 families in Jean Denies, which became cut off from the capital when rains from Hurricane Ike washed out the last remaining bridge into the area.

Cooking is currently a challenge for flood-affected families so plans are underway to provide ready-to-eat food such as high-energy biscuits. In a brief period of no rain on Saturday, people were trying to salvage their wet rice by drying it on tarps laid out on roads and in fields.

In the week ahead, World Vision plans to scale up its relief efforts in close coordination with the United Nations and other humanitarian groups in Haiti. Beginning today, the agency plans to distribute 40 metric tons of food, 150 hygiene kits and 250 cases of water in the city of Mirebalais.

Australian sponsored children

World Vision development programs have been affected by floods caused by the hurricanes. Flood-affected, Australian-sponsored children and their families are amongst those receiving World Vision emergency supplies.

Please be assured that if we receive information of concern regarding any sponsored children we will contact the sponsor as a matter of urgency.

How you can help

Donate now to World Vision’s Emergency & Preparedness Fund. The Emergency & Preparedness Fund enables World Vision to respond immediately to disasters such as the hurricanes in Haiti, providing emergency relief supplies and longer-term livelihood recovery assistance to affected communities.