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Post-Hurricane News From Haiti Is Bad - But Maybe Not As Bad As Feared?

Dieu Naleio Chery
/
AP via Miami Herald
Hurricane Matthew's Category 4 winds lash southwest Haiti on Tuesday.

The news from Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Matthew is certainly bad – especially on Haiti’s southwest peninsula. But it's perhaps not all as bad as it could have been for the rest of the western hemisphere's poorest country.

Matthew pounded southwest Haiti on Tuesday with winds of 145 miles per hour and more than 20 inches of rain. At least five deaths have been reported there - and low-lying cities like Les Cayes suffered catastrophic flooding that’s forced 15,000 people from their homes.

The situation is made worse because a major bridge over the La Digue River, connecting the southwest peninsula to the capital, Port-au-Prince, was washed out.

One of the biggest concerns of that humanitarian disaster is cholera – especially since Haiti was already battling a cholera epidemic.

"It's very bad in the south, and to get aid there is going to be difficult because of the bridge," said Dr. Charles-Patrick Almazor, the chief medical officer in Haiti for the non-profit Partners in Health.

"We are anticipating a lot of cases of cholera. So I think the urgent need is to provide chlorine tablets in the drinking water."

Still, Almazor said the rest of Haiti – including heavily populated Port-au-Prince – may not have been damaged as badly as first feared.

"I didn't hear anything as bad for the north," he said. "And I think Port-au-Prince it's a little bit OK compared to the southern peninsula."

After hitting Haiti, Matthew struck the eastern tip of Cuba. It destroyed some homes in the city of Baracoa, but doesn’t appear to have badly damaged the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo. So far no deaths have been reported in Cuba.

Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN, covering Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with South Florida. Contact Tim at tpadgett@wlrnnews.org
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