Haiti – Hurricane Matthew Update

According to figures issued by the government Haiti, a total of 336 people have been killed by the hurricane in seven departments from south-east to north-west, as of noon 08 October. However, there are fears this number will rise as further assessments are carried out. Some media outlets are already reporting more than 900 deaths.

The government estimates that 2.1 million people have been affected by the hurricane. According to the  UN, 1,410,907 people (over 12% of the country’s population) are in need humanitarian assistance in Grand’Anse, South, Nippes, South East, West, Artibonite and North West departments.

The country is now facing potential housing and food shortages, as well as an increase in cholera cases.

As of 09 October, 61,537 people remained displaced, staying in 191 shelters. Humanitarian agencies say that initial assessments suggest that more than 200,000 houses have been damaged.

European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) says that as much as 80% of harvests were lost in some areas.

Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population said that 70 cholera cases have been reported in the commune of Anse d’Hainault in the Grand’Anse over the last few days. Health officials said last week that they were concerned about an increase in cholera cases in the wake of the storm

Wind and Flood Exposure

A report by UNOSAT (PDF) of 07 October 2016 says that approximately 350,159 people were exposed to a high flood hazard, 426,380 to medium flood and 1,961,022 to low flood hazard.

The map below from UNOSAT shows that some areas of Haiti, Cuba and Dominican Republic saw more than 300 mm of rain (areas shown in blue) between 04 and 05 October 2016.

The report also states that over 1 million people in Haiti were exposed to wind speed zones of around 120km/h, over half a million were in areas exposed to 90 km/h winds, and over 9 million were exposed to 60 km/h winds.

Haiti