August 18, 2021
Heavy Rains, Flooding Add to Earthquake Woes in Haiti
By Onz Chéry and Samuel Celine
PHOTO: Courtesy /Jean-Michel Voltaire, Esq. Chairman, Reunion Sportive d'Haiti, Inc.
PHOTO: Courtesy /Jean-Michel Voltaire, Esq. Chairman, Reunion Sportive d'Haiti, Inc.
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Haitian Times
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Neighbors had to quickly pick up and carry bed-ridden survivors of Haiti’s earthquake through heavy rains as Tropical Depression Grace began passing through southwestern Haiti Monday night, two days after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Other families left homeless spent the night under the pouring rain.
“We’re suffering, the babies are getting wet,” said one woman in Les Cayes in tears, holding an umbrella, in one video. “No one is helping us, we’re only able to cry out to God.”
Haiti’s southern region felt the strongest shakes of the earthquake that left at least 1,941 people dead, more than 9,900 injured and at least 2,800 homes destroyed. Tropical Depression Grace also hit the southern region, even as slow-moving rescue and recovery efforts were underway. Seaside towns Jacmel, Les Cayes and Marigot are among the areas in the South that are experiencing flooding, according to residents.
Rainfall was still falling on the coastal city of Les Cayes Tuesday morning, complicating efforts to rescue victims of the earthquake. It is unclear how much damage Grace has caused so far in Haiti but the heavy rains that drenched different areas sent thousands of homeless people into public parks, schools and a few remaining public buildings to seek refuge.
Trice Edney News Wire List of Ways to Help
- Joanne Williams of Barrington Associates, Inc., a trusted Trice Edney News Wire source, forwarded the following information on the day of the earthquake in Haiti, Saturday, August 14: "There are no streetlights. There are no grocery stores. Water is scarce, if at all available. And, there is no more school building that was just about to be finished…Jean-Michel [Voltaire] and his organizational effort, Reunion Sportive d'Haiti are credible sources to receive and appropriately manage your contributions…whatever the amount you can spare. Your dollars hit the ground and are spent responsibly. I encourage you to share and give at any level you can manage. My heart breaks, but I also know the differences collective financial resources can make. Here’s the website to donate: www.rshaiti.org
- Dr. Ron Daniels, president/CEO of the Institute of the Black World 2st Century, who led a group of journalists to Port-au-Prince Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake and whose long time mantra has been, "For the Love of Haiti," recommends the following websites for credible opportunities to give. Dr. Daniels says the following organizations are trusted and located in most affected areas:
- COFHED in Camp Perrin: https://www.cofhed.org/
- Hope for Haiti in Les Cayes: https://hopeforhaiti.com/
- Locally Haiti in Petit Trou de Nippes: https://www.locallyhaiti.org/
- PRODEV network of schools in south and Grand Anse: www.prodevhaiti.org
- FONKOZE, throughout the affected zones: https://fonkoze.org/
- Health Equity International/Saint Boniface Hospital treating wounded in Fond des Blancs:
- ESPWA Haiti in the Grand Anse: https://www.espwa-haiti.org/
- Friends of Paradis des Indiens in Abricots, Grand Anse: https://www.friendsofpdi.org/