Haiti: after the earthquake, torrential rains from Storm Grace hit the southwest

2021-08-17T05:54:18.920Z

In the wake of the powerful earthquake that hit southwestern Haiti two days ago, killing at least 1,419 people, injuring at least 6,900 others and destroying at least 37,000 ...

Haiti: after the earthquake, torrential rains from Storm Grace hit the southwest

the trajectory of tropical storm Grace, which affects southwestern Haiti, already severely affected by the August 14 earthquake, on the Haiti Civil Protection website © twitter.com/Pwoteksyonsivil

Text by: RFI Follow

4 min

In the wake of the powerful earthquake that hit southwestern Haiti two days ago, killing at least 1,419 people, injuring at least 6,900 and destroying at least 37,000 homes, the Depression Tropical Grace arrived in the region, unleashing torrential rains over Haiti as well as the Dominican Republic.

Publicity

After the damage from the earthquake, the rains of Tropical Depression Grace sparking all fears of urban flooding and landslides.

Miami-based US hurricane observing center NHC said precipitation of between 127 and 254mm of water was expected.

Last I heard, on the night of August 16-17, Grace was about 80 km east of Port-au-Prince, and was moving west, at about 20 km / h with maximum sustained winds. of 55 km / h.

The depression was to spend the night on the Tiburon Peninsula, then shift to Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands.

Jacmel, # Grace. # Betterhaiti pic.twitter.com/Ukp4zkoIBT

- Baton Moyiz (@moisegarcon) August 17, 2021

Along the southern coast of the island of Haiti, many concrete buildings collapsed due to the 7.2 magnitude earthquake.

The

places of worship

were also destroyed.

In the town of Anse-à-Veau, in Nippes, before the rains, no one wanted to go home, according to Father Louis Mérosné, contacted by RFI.

People sleep in the open air, they ask what they can do, what they are going to do with this rain, this storm. We don't have a tent to give them, we don't have temporary shelters in Anse-à-Veau. It's difficult. The immediate needs are the question of tents, food and water. We used to have a hard time getting water from people's taps, but now to find drinking water you really have to turn around to find a few gallons of drinking water. So that is difficult. And then it will also be necessary to rebuild, but that is in the long term.

In the small seaside town of Port-Salut, where our correspondent

Amélie Baron

visited

, as in the rest of the affected regions, residents faced a dilemma: stay outside to protect themselves from aftershocks, or enter damaged buildings. to shelter from the severe weather of the tropical depression Grace.

🆘🆘🆘 #Marigo floods nan moman n ap pale an la 🤦🏾‍♂️ # Grace pic.twitter.com/oef2eTmMDB

- # FreeHaiti🇭🇹 (@glinaud) August 16, 2021

Many countries, including the United States, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Ecuador, have offered assistance with personnel, emergency rations and medical equipment.

Washington intends to set up a joint military mission and has already mobilized resources, in particular to assess the situation in the disaster areas.

Before the precipitation, the emergency services were working in haste, using trucks and backhoe loaders, as in the

city of Les Cayes

, near the epicenter.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry declared a state of emergency for one month in the four departments affected by the disaster, and thanked the international community on Sunday.

→ Listen again: After the earthquake in Haiti, the concern before the tropical depression

Haiti: after the earthquake, torrential rains from Storm Grace hit the southwest

Haiti: after the earthquake, torrential rains from Storm Grace hit the southwest

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