Haiti is facing a new humanitarian crisis following torrential rains that caused flooding and landslides in seven of the country’s ten departments. The bad weather left more than 42 dead and 11 missing, according to the results of Haitian civil protection. The UN, for its part, counts 15 dead and 8 missing and estimates that the rains have affected 37,000 people, causing 13,400 to be displaced. The floods also destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged several roads.
The town of Léogane, located 40 km southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, was particularly affected by the damage, which was caused by three flooded rivers. The victims lost everything, their fields and livestock devastated by the waters. Thousands of families are in urgent need of food, drinking water and medicine.
These floods revealed the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters and the lack of measures to reduce these risks. This crisis comes as the hurricane season begins, exposing the country even more to dangers.
Haiti already faces a worsening humanitarian crisis, with nearly half of its population requiring humanitarian assistance, a figure that has doubled in just five years, according to the UN. It is therefore crucial to provide emergency aid to the populations affected by these floods and to plan effective strategies to deal with the threat of natural disasters.