Extreme weather: Floods in Haiti – at least 15 dead

extreme weather
Floods in Haiti – at least 15 dead

Heavy rain has led to severe flooding in the Caribbean country of Haiti – like here in the capital, Port-au-Prince. photo

© Odelyn Joseph/AP

The hurricane season has only just begun, and a storm is already hitting the Caribbean country, causing a great deal of suffering: several people die and thousands are forced to flee.

Floods and landslides following heavy rains have caused at least 15 deaths in Haiti over the weekend. Another eight people were missing, said the civil protection authority of the Caribbean state on Sunday (local time).

According to preliminary figures, a total of around 13,390 people had to leave their homes and seek refuge on Saturday and Sunday. More than 1,200 houses were flooded, it said. Five of the ten departments in the country were affected, including the capital Port-au-Prince. Agriculture is heavily burdened.

Hurricane season has just begun in the region – it lasts from June to November. Arlene, the first tropical cyclone of the season strong enough to be named, formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday. It weakened to a storm near Cuba’s west coast on Saturday.

dpa

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