Hurricane Noel Flooding Hurts Haiti’s Poorest Worst of All
Last week Hurricane Noel brought torrential rains and catastrophic floods to nearly the entire nation of Haiti, along with vast swaths of the rest of the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico. The terrible human cost of the storm in Haiti is only now becoming clear.
The hardest hit by this catasrophe are Haiti’s poorest, who were already living on the edge of deadly poverty.
Provisional reports from Grassroots’ partner, the Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development (PAPDA) count 48 people killed and nearly 14,000 who have lost their homes. Even more frightening, in some regions 90% of the small farmers have lost their crops.
This means that in the coming months, the already dangerous levels of hunger in Haiti will rise and there is a chance of outright famine.
You can help today by making an online donation to Grassroots at: http://www.grassrootsonline.org/haiti-donate-w
Grassroots’ long-term relationships with community-led development groups in Haiti allows us to deliver help where it is needed most. It also allows us to help Haitians build their own solutions from the ground up.
Our partners’ work on reforestation and agroecology is planting the seeds for a future where Haiti’s regular rainy seasons and chance encounters with hurricanes will not automatically result in catastrophic flooding.