Hurricanes in Haiti

Hurricane Ike hit Haiti on 7 September. An estimated 650,000 people have been affected by the storm.

Latest from the field: Gonaïves revisited

The situation

Hurricane Ike passed through Haiti on Sunday 7 September, just three days after Tropical Storm Hanna unloaded massive amounts of rain on the already water-saturated country.  This was the fourth major storm to hit the country since mid-August.

The UN estimates that some 650,000 people nationwide have been affected by the storm. More than 61 people are reported to have died, the majority in the town of Gonaïves, where more than 60,000 people have sought refuge in temporary shelters.  Shelters are also filling up in the town of Ennery just north of Gonaïves. 

  Hanna came through and wiped out all that I had managed to rebuild after Tropical Storm Jeanne [in September 2004]. This time it is worse, much worse. the only thing I was able to save was my one-year-old son.

Emmanuel André

Oxfam's response

Oxfam International has been responding in Gonaïves since the beginning of the emergency.  Intermon Oxfam is providing water to several communities in Gonaïves and surrounding areas while Oxfam Great Britain is focusing on public health promotion for people living in the camps. 

To date, Oxfam GB, with financial support from the humanitarian aid service of the European Commission, ECHO, and the Inter-American Development Bank, has installed 197 temporary latrines and 84 portable shower stalls throughout Gonaïves.

In addition to latrine and shower construction, Oxfam’s team of public health promoters works with internal camp co-ordination committees – established among the camp residents themselves and supported by Oxfam – to distribute essential items and teach important hygiene practices for camp residents.

Longer term

In response to the great longer terms needs of the people of Gonaïves, Oxfam GB is planning a six-month intervention in the area that will include assisting families in cleaning their homes, installing water points along with cleaning and repairing wells, providing cash interventions for women, and ongoing public health promotion on various levels.

Oxfam International has also designed a six-month response that will help to restore the economic livelihoods including micro-credit and economic restoration activities for women, seed production, seed banks, agricultural distributions, and reparation of irrigation systems.

Update: 25 November 2008