Port-au-Prince, 09 June 2011 – At least 23 people have died due to strong downpours which fell principally in the Ouest Department, where Port-au-Prince is located, according to a report by the Haitian authorities.
Most of the deaths have occurred in Ouest Department. Moreover, various municipalities in near areas, such as Port-au-Prince, Tabarre, Cité Soleil, Pétion-Ville etc. have experienced serious flooding. Mobility has been reduced considerably in these zones, due to landslides, increased water levels and falling trees. The weather in the last week has also cost the lives of at least two others in the east of the country.
"Various camps are flooded, some tents have been destroyed and a large number of displaced persons find themselves in difficult circumstances in various districts", said a JRS Haiti team member in Port-au-Prince.
"In the camps where JRS is present, the tents and shops of displaced persons are in a deplorable condition. They are either flooded or destroyed", the team member added.
The Metrological Centre of Haiti (CNM) declared an alert level orange in the country since 32 May, because "areas of low pressure in the southwest of the Caribbean Sea continues to cause heavy rains in Haiti".
Faced with this situation and given the flooding in various regions of the country, the Permanent Secretary for the Management of Risk and Disaster (SPGRD) has maintained the phase of alert level orange due to the presence of heavy rains, landslides and flooding … in the departments of Nippes, Grand-anse, el Sur, Aribonite, el Noroeste and el Oeste", according to a report by the Haitian authorities.
Cholera epidemic
Moreover, the cholera epidemic which broke out in Haiti October last year has worsened in the last few weeks in Port-au-Prince, according to Medicine Sans Frontier (MSF).
"We have had to increase the number of beds in all our cholera treatment centres (CTC) and open others because the number of patients has increased so much", declared Romain Gitenet, head of MSF in Haiti, during a press conference on 3 June.
Experts believe the increase in cholera cases is due to the heavy rains and to poor waste management.
A team of investigators of the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department at the University of Colorado predicted 17 cyclones and one hurricane would affect the Atlantic region with a high probability they would hit the Caribbean region where Haiti is located.