As
you approach the outskirts of Gonaïves, a town surrounded
by a deforested mountain range, you suddenly enter a massive
lake. Large spindly cacti and other desert vegetation peep out
from the metre-high body of water, which was not here before
Tropical Storm Jeanne struck on 18 September.
The northern Haitian city and its environs have been devastated
by the flooding with most of its 200,000 residents affected.
Virtually everyone here desperately needs water, food and shelter.
With the rainy season in full force, some families are lucky
enough to have a simple piece of plastic sheeting propped up
by twigs to provide a makeshift shelter on the rooftops of their
homes.
More than 1,600 people are believed to have died as a result
of Jeanne, and hundreds more are missing.
Last February, Gonaives was at the centre of the political violence
that affected Haiti. Much of its infrastructure was affected
at that time, including the Hôpital de Providence, its
main general hospital.
In March, a team from the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) with the support of the Norwegian Red Cross was
able to rehabilitate the hospital so it could function once
again.
Now every room of the Hôpital de Providence has been flooded
by at least two metres of water. It is also a testament to the
horrors inflicted by the disaster, with piles of corpses in
body bags lying in the courtyard.
In sweltering heat, two ICRC relief workers, Erich Baumann and
Daniel Rubens stand caked in mud in the courtyard. During the
last couple of days they have managed to bring more than 150
corpses here so they can be retrieved by grieving relatives
or buried in a mass grave.
“We are finished with this tough job that really needed
to be done to provide dignity to those who have died,”
says Baumann as he grimaced and wiped beads of sweat from his
forehead.
From the outset Haitian Red Cross volunteers have been assisting
with rescue, first aid, informing people of places they can
seek shelter, helping them get there and transporting the injured
to available medical facilities.
Amidst the putrid smell that lingers in the courtyard Yves-Jacques
Toussin, 47, sits on a cement bench staring blankly ahead. “We
had several metres of water come rushing into our home,”
he says. “Many of my relatives and friends have perished.
We are now so very hungry and tired.”
Henri Obenson, 24, tries to sweep the water out of the main
floor of his house. “I am using this simple shovel to
get as much water as possible out, but it is not going well,”
he says.
His mother frantically interrupts in Creole, “We lost
everything including our livelihoods when three metres of water
gushed into our home. We really do not know where to turn to
for help.”
The dirty water still flooding the streets is of much concern
and especially the lack of clean drinking water for most of
the population. Following a preliminary assessment the International
Federation despatched an Emergency Response Unit (ERU) specialised
in water and sanitation, which has now arrived in Gonaïves.
Managed jointly by the French and Spanish Red Cross Societies,
the team will set up a water treatment plant that will soon
be able to provide water for up to 50,000 thirsty residents.
In recent days the International Federation and the national
Red Cross Societies of Canada, France, Spain and Switzerland
have sent in a total of seven cargo flights laden with desperately
needed relief items, such as plastic sheeting, blankets, food,
hygiene articles, kitchen sets and cooking stoves.
Given the amount of relief arriving in Haiti, the Federation
decided to also send a logistics ERU, also managed jointly by
the Spanish and French Red Cross, to facilitate the reception,
storage and distribution of relief items.
The Federation has deployed a field assessment team by helicopter
to conduct an aerial survey to evaluate the damage inflicted
by the storm and floods outside Gonaïves.
“The purpose of the assessment is to quickly evaluate
the needs outside Gonaïves, to be followed by immediate
action,” explains the leader of the assessment team, Roger
Bracke.
“We are concerned that some of the towns and villages
outside Gonaïves have been equally affected but have received
little or no assistance. Based on our survey, these areas may
be where a considerable portion of our relief items will be
distributed. We will continue to provide supplementary distributions
in Gonaïves through the Haitian Red Cross,” he adds.
Just outside Gonaïves, sad looking families cross the river
to flee the town. They poignantly hold hands as they slowly
wade through the thigh-high water in the lake. Most have little
or no belongings.
On the horizon, there is a small glimmer of hope. A Haitian
Red Cross convoy of six trucks carrying tonnes of rice, beans,
cooking oil and candy comes into view, driving through the floodwater
towards Gonaives
Two of the trucks get stuck in the water and cannot proceed.
There will be many such challenges ahead for humanitarian workers
in one of the poorest cities in the poorest country in the western
hemisphere.
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A
family flees the devastated city of Gonaïves with
their few remaining possessions (p12065)
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Seven
Red Cross relief flights have landed in Haiti since Tropical
Storm Jeanne struck. Here Haitian Red Cross volunteers
help to unload humanitarian aid (p12047)
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ICRC
staff collect up some of the corpses littering the streets
of Gonaïves (p12048)
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Gonaïves
residents amid the dirty floodwaters. Virtually everyone
here desperately needs water, food and shelter (p12052)
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Haiti
has again been devastated by severe flooding (p12050)
The various components of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement
in Haiti are coordinating their work closely (p12054)
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