Haiti Floods – 3,000 Houses Damaged in Ouest Department

by in Americas, News

Heavy rain in Haiti has resulted in further flooding, particularly in Ouest Department, where the city of Léogâne in Haiti was flooded for a second time in 6 weeks.

According to the National Meteorological Centre (Centre National de Météorologie, CNM), a combination of a tropical disturbance over the Caribbean Sea and a trough was the main cause of the heavy rain that affected Haiti that began during the evening of Thursday 26 May, 2016.

As many as 2,901 houses have been damaged and 3,674 families affected in the municipalities of Léogâne, Arcahaie, Cité Soleil and Carrefour, all in Ouest Department. The heavy rain caused the collapse of a wall in Desmichel, a neighbourhood of Carrefour and local media report that one man has died and three others were injured.

Several neighbourhoods of the city of Léogâne has been significantly affected, including the city centre. The Rouyonne River has overflowed, inundating several houses located on the riverbanks in the Dampus, Caleb, Malbou, Cité-Marcel, Bineau and Pont-Vincent localities.

These areas were badly affected by the 13 April 2016 floods. Léogâne is particularly prone to flooding, situated in an location where six rivers cross a densely populated area. Structural (river cleaning and maintenance) and non-structural (planning and preparedness) measures to prevent the recurrence of similar events are urgently required.

The recent flood also caused significant problems for local transportation, with the inundation of the bus terminal and of several roads in Léogâne downtown, with water level reaching up to 50 cm.

The National Route 2, connecting Port-au-Prince to Les Cayes in the South Department, was also affected by the severe weather.

In the municipality of Arcahaie the Mitan and Courjolle Rivers overflowed affecting the Ponce and Kafou Pois localities.

Mudslides have been reported in the villages of Carriès and Williamson, partially affecting the circulation on the National Route 1. The Tesso, Mahotière and Froide Rivers have also overflowed, inundating several neighbourhoods in the municipality of Carrefour.

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