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Route Circuit d’Haïti - Drouillard — BP 13233 — Port-au-Prince, HAÏTI — (509) 29400992 — fondation.rinaldi@gmail.com
Tropical Storm Isaac hits Haiti
La The tropical storm crossed Haiti in the evening of August 24 and during all day of August 25.
Isaac arrived by the south coast with winds of 95km/h that sometimes were stronger and accompanied by heavy rains causing floods, landslides and enormous agricultural losses.
The government has taken over exemplarily to warn and assist the citizens and had prepared 1,250 shelters to receive the people that would have been affected. However, the toll for the Hurricane states: 24 death, 3 missing and 42 injured plus 15.812 affected people, 1.144 flooded houses, 1.005 tore down, 6.040 damaged ones and 8.189 families affected. A heavy toll that proves life’s vulnerability in this weak country The salesian Houses in Haiti after the passage of Isaac
All the activities were stopped since Friday in order to allow the kids to join their families.
Saturday morning, after getting in touch with each Salesian house director to have a global view of the situation of the confreres and the personnel working for the Vice-province, Fr Ducange was assured that nothing significant had happened to them, and he could pay a quick visit to the six Salesian Houses in the near of Port au Prince. Thanks God, there was no human loss to bemoan and the material damages were minimal:
Drouillard-Cité Soleil : tree branches cut off and metal roof sheets snatched. The site of the project-Drouillard was flooded.
Fleuriot : Winds have torn down parts of an old and deficient wall.
ENAM-La Saline : A big iron gate fell down and some solar panels were turned upside down.
ENGLISH Tempête Isaac photographiée par satellite le vendredi 24 août.AFP
H A Ï T I
VENEZUELA
CUBA
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Route Circuit d’Haïti - Drouillard — BP 13233 — Port-au-Prince, HAÏTI — (509) 29400992 — fondation.rinaldi@gmail.com
Pétion-Ville, Les Cayes, Gonaïves, Cap Haïtien et Fort Liberté : nothing significant to report
Thorland : A few metal roof sheets snatched and some trees fallen.
Gressier : An old and poorly built wall fell down. Several metal roof sheets and doors tore down. All this affects the security of Don Bosco Centre.
A quick evaluation
Of the costs of repairing the fallen walls at Fleuriot and Gressier could reach the sum of 55.000 US$ Ma
According to the forecasts, the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season (June - November) could not be too rough, but we have to take into account that Haiti is located in an area of risk:
• 98 per cent: rate of deforestation
• Inappropriate drainage (and often blocked)
• Internal refugees (still 500,000 people living in camps for internally displaced persons)
• Infrastructure largely insufficient
• Dreadful events since 2004:
-May 2004 - Fonds-Verrettes flooding (2,600 deceased)
-September 2004 - hurricane Jeanne (3,000 deceased)
-August - September 2008 – 4 cyclones in a month (500 dead, 100,000 homes destroyed)
-12 January 2010 - earthquake (250,000 died...)
-August 2012: food and nutrition insecurity of a 38% affects some four million people.
PREVENTION belongs to the educational heritage of the Salesians, and they are determined to put it to the service Haitian youth. Only a long work of prevention could help to deal with the natural disasters to which our cherished country is regulary exposed because of its geographical position.