Status: 08/18/2021 3:23 a.m.
In Haiti, the number of victims has risen to almost 2,000 after the devastating earthquake. Rescue workers dig through rubble in search of possible survivors, but there is little hope left. A tropical storm is raging over all of this.
After the deadly earthquake in Haiti, heavy rains caused by tropical storm “Grace” temporarily halted rescue operations. The storm hit the region in the southwest of the Caribbean state that was hardest hit by the weekend’s quake. Even more frustration and anger spread among the thousands of people who are now homeless.
The tremors on Saturday had a magnitude of 7.2 and also triggered landslides. According to the US earthquake control center, the epicenter was about 125 kilometers west of the capital Port-au-Prince. The number of deaths rose to at least 1941 by Tuesday, around 9,900 people were injured.
According to official figures, more than 7,000 homes were destroyed in the quake and almost 5,000 damaged, including hospitals, schools, offices and churches. Around 30,000 families were left homeless.
Despair on the streets
Some children who were orphans after their parents died in the quake were starving, reported Carl-Henry Petit-Frère of Save the Children. The aid organization is now distributing available goods to people living on the street who are exposed to the wind and rain without protection. “I see children crying on the street; people ask us for food, but we also run out of food,” added Petit-Frère. The organizations do what is humanly possible, but need relief supplies. “Food, clean water and shelter are needed most, and we need them quickly.”
The civil defense is trying to move the available resources to the hardest hit places such as Les Cayes, Jeremie and Nippes, said agency chief Jerry Chandler. In the badly destroyed city of Les Cayes, emergency services and scrap metal seekers dug their way through the rubble of a collapsed hotel. More and more dead were pulled out of the rubble, and the smell of corpses lay over a collapsed residential building. Only a sheet covered the body of a three-year-old girl who firefighters had discovered an hour earlier.
Huge amounts of rain from tropical storm “Grace”
Every hour the chances of finding survivors dwindled. Tropical storm “Grace” caused huge amounts of rain to fall over the chaos. The homeless and search parties got soaked. Further landslides were feared. The tropical storm moved slowly over the earthquake-ravaged Tiburon Peninsula during the day and then set course for Cuba and Jamaica.
Days after the quake, injuries continued to pour into the overburdened hospital in Les Cayes. Patients waited on stairs, in hallways, and on the open porch for treatment. Doctor Paurus Michelete said pain relievers and metal brackets to treat fractures were running out. “We are no longer receptive, and more and more people keep coming.” The executive director of the Unicef Children’s Fund, Henrietta Fore, said many of those affected urgently need medical care and need clean water and a roof over their heads.
Disasters at the wrong time
Haiti had already experienced a similarly severe earthquake in 2010, killing up to 300,000 people in the densely populated metropolitan area of the capital Port-au-Prince and elsewhere. Hurricanes like Hurricane “Matthew” in 2016 followed.
The recent natural disasters hit Haiti at an inopportune time. In addition to the corona pandemic, rampant bathing violence is causing people to suffer from growing poverty. In addition, there was the attack on President Jovenel Moïse at the beginning of July, which deepened political uncertainty.
Haiti after major earthquake – death toll continues to rise
Anne Demmer, ARD Mexico, August 17, 2021 11:44 p.m.