GUYANA will be contributing to the rebuilding process of sister CARICOM nation Haiti, which was recently ravaged by Hurricane Mathew, Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon has said.“Guyana will make its contribution once the damage has been properly assessed. We are closely monitoring the situation through the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CEDEMA),” he said.
Hurricane Mathew has affected a few CARICOM nations, including Haiti. Haiti has been hit by hurricanes quite a number of times in the past decade.
In 2008, Haiti was struck by Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike, while Hurricane Thomas visited in 2010.
Reuters has reported that Hurricane Matthew’s trail of destruction in Haiti stunned those emerging from the aftermath on Friday, with the number of dead soaring to 842, tens of thousands homeless and outbreaks of cholera already claiming more lives.
Reuters said information trickled in from remote areas that were cut off by the storm, and it became clear that at least 175 people died in villages clustered among the hills and on the coast of Haiti’s fertile western tip.
Rural clinics overflowed with patients whose wounds, including broken bones, had not been treated since the storm hit on Tuesday. Food was scarce, and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of floodwater mixing with sewage.
At least three towns reported dozens of fatalities, including the hilly farming village of Chantal, whose mayor said 86 people have perished, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 more people were missing, Reuters reported on Friday.