A
mountain of white pebbles guards Marie Ketline Baptiste’s
house. She has collected them one by one from inside her home,
where the sea had left them. With its levels raised by hurricane-force
winds, the sea had invaded houses along the seashore in Bord
de la Mer (‘edge of the sea’) in Bainet, south-east
Haiti.
The hurricane in question was Ernesto, the first of the 2006
Caribbean hurricane season. It passed over Haiti’s southern
coast on 26 September, leaving in its wake heavy rain and flooding
in some coastal villages.
Marie was evacuated with her 85 neighbours by Red Cross volunteers
and local authorities. They were taken by foot to the three
pre-prepared shelters to wait for Ernesto to pass.
After three days, 63 year-old Baptiste returned home to find
many of her possessions and her pig had been washed away by
the sea. She lost her kitchen utensils and clothes, and her
house was full of stones. A widow, she returned to her native
Bord de la Mer from Jacmel when her husband died. She now lives
alone.
“Some people had to stay evacuated for up to 22 days,”
says Pierre Ironce Bourgouin, a Haitian Red Cross volunteer
from the Bainet branch. “To begin with, they stayed in
schools converted into shelters, then transferred to the church
when school classes were restored.”
Bord de la Mer is a fishing community, the poorest in Bainet.
“To make matters worse, many of the fishermen lost their
nets, their only form of livelihood,” adds Bourgouin.
The seashore, once sandy, is also now awash with stones.
As Hurricane Ernesto passed, Haitian Red Cross branches in the
affected areas were on full alert, maintaining regular radio
contact throughout. First aid kits were pre-positioned in the
south and south-east. Red Cross volunteers also provided assistance
to people in shelters, particularly children and elderly people.
Three thousand of those most affected in five of the 10 departments
of Haiti (Sud, Grande Anse, Nippes, Sud-Est and Ouest) are receiving
Red Cross relief goods including hygiene items, cooking equipment,
a 15-litre container and a mosquito net.
Marie Ketline Baptiste is one of them.
A country made vulnerable
After Cuba, Haiti is the country most affected by natural disasters
in the Caribbean. Floods and hurricanes are the most frequent
and deadly of these.
“The impact of natural disasters is much higher in Haiti
than in any other Caribbean countries,” explains Marc
Régis, relief director of the Haitian Red Cross.
“Severe deforestation has stripped the sides of the mountains,
allowing rain water to run unrestricted and provoking dramatic
landslides. At the same time, the rubbish filling the river
beds blocks natural drainage of water and chaotic urbanization
produces a high risk of flooding.”
The Haitian Red Cross has prioritized the South of Haiti, which
is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters such as hurricanes.
Most of the towns and villages here are located on the seashore
or at the mouths of rivers, leaving them at risk of flooding.
"One of the major problems is the inaccessibility of certain
areas,” says Toumane Dianka, the International Federation’s
disaster management delegate in Haiti. “This is particularly
true during the hurricane season, which makes it difficult and
often a challenge to provide a prompt and efficient response."
Bainet, for example, is a two-hour car journey along a bumpy
rocky road from Jacmel, the capital of the department. The journey
is now even more difficult because Ernesto washed away some
bridges. “Some big trucks still can’t cross,”
says Bourgouin.
Striking figures
The population of Haiti is by far the poorest in Latin America
and the Caribbean. Some 60 per cent still live in rural regions
characterized by the dispersion of inhabited areas and very
weak infrastructure. The annual income per inhabitant is less
than USD 250, and poverty is even more marked in rural areas,
where 80 per cent of people live well below the poverty line.
Life expectancy is under 55 years, less than 40 per cent of
people are literate, 65 per cent do not have access to clean
drinking water and 75 per cent do not have access to sanitation.
Again, the figures are worse in rural areas.
Ernesto was active from 24 August to 1 September. In its path
through the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Ernesto affected, to varying
degrees, Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the United States, reaching
maximum sustained winds of 120km (category 1) as it passed close
to Haiti.
The most recent devastating hurricane to hit Haiti was Georges
in 1998, which affected more than 385,000 people. According
to a number of studies, the passage of a major hurricane over
Haiti can be anticipated every six to seven years.
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Pierre
Ironce Bourgouin is a volunteer of the Bainet branch of
the Haitian Red Cross and one of the 150 trained “Relais
Communautaire". (p14822)
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Toumane Dianka, Federation's Disaster Management delegate
in Haiti, assess the area affected by Hurricane Ernesto
(p14837)
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Ketline Baptiste’s had to leave her house when category
one hurricane Ernesto passed near the southern tip of
Haiti. She was evacuated as well as all her 85 family
neighbours by Red Cross volunteers and local authorities.
(p14836)
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3,000
persons affected by hurricane Ernesto in five of the 10
departments of Haiti (Sud, Grande Anse, Nippes, Sud-Est
and Ouest) are receiving: laundry soap, powder soap, toilet
paper, toilet soap, toothpaste, a 15 litre container,
a plastic jerry can, a soup spoon, saucers, pots, cups,
a kitchen knife and a kitchen spoon. (p14828)
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