Stories from the field
Hurricane Sandy devastates local food supplies
For the second time this year, Haiti has been battered by hurricane winds and rain, resulting in thousands of people seeking shelter, local food supplies devastated and the risk of diseases such as cholera and malaria increasing.
Sandy left 54 people dead and 20 missing. Moreover, 18,000 families have been devastated and 6,790 people are being cared for in 66 emergency shelters.
Assessments are now moving into new areas that have not been previously covered. Although there are basic needs and requirements that are common to every region, each has its own unique challenge.
In Les Nippes, the major concerns are cholera and the loss of livelihoods. Harvesting was about to begin when the storm rolled through region, destroying banana and other fruit trees. The resulting damage is so extensive that over 90 per cent of the local food supply has been lost.
In the South, emergency assessment teams reported a lack of drinkable water and latrines, and the potential for a cholera outbreak. These were also recommended by the team that visited Jeremie, Les Irois and Dame Marie, while adding the need for mosquito nets, shelter toolkits, tarps and seeds to put farmers back into their fields.
Volunteers from the Red Cross are visiting the more vulnerable communities. Using megaphones, they are spreading hygiene messages - including the importance to wash hands and use treated water - wherever Sandy has been through. Messages stressing the need to wash hands and to treat water are also being broadcast through text messages, sound trucks and interactive voice response systems. Since the arrival of the hurricane, over 1 million text messages have been sent; tweets have reached 3,000 followers; and sound trucks have visited 23 camps and 13 other communities. As well as hygiene messaging, the sound trucks and volunteers have also been talking about violence prevention.
Given the poor quality of water and sanitation in the region, there is a risk of disease outbreaks such as malaria, cholera and diarrhea. As a result, in addition to increasing hygiene promotion sessions and activities linked with raising awareness on prevention of epidemics and control, there is a need to distribute hygiene kits, buckets, aquatabs, chlorine and soap to prevent the spread of waterborne disease, as well as oral rehydration solution for cholera treatment.
To date, the Canadian Red Cross has distributed 500 cholera kits and has provided support to assessment teams with staff, logistics, vehicles and distribution materials. A roster of trained personnel and additional supplies are mobilized and ready to be deployed if needed.
