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Tropical storm Grace brings masses of rain to earthquake-hit Haiti

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3 years ago

August 18, 2021

Olu Emmanuel

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Heavy rainfall has hit the region of Haiti where a strong earthquake killed more than 1,400 people.

The low-pressure system Grace responsible for the masses of rain has meanwhile strengthened into a tropical storm and is moving west towards Jamaica, the U.S. hurricane centre announced early on Tuesday morning.

The centre warned of flooding and landslides in parts of the island of Hispaniola, where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located.

As a result of the rain, the water could locally reach heights of up to 25 centimetres, in individual cases even up to 38 centimetres.

In an emergency shelter in the town of Les Cayes on the Tiburon peninsula in south-western Haiti, the water was ankle-high, as could be seen in photos taken on Monday evening.

Completely soaked survivors of Saturday’s quake visited the camp, carrying their belongings in bags on their heads, other pictures showed. Many people who had become homeless were sleeping outside.

The confirmed death toll from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake has now risen to 1,419, the civil defence agency said on Monday. Around 6,900 people were injured in the disaster.

Many people were still believed to be under the rubble of the many destroyed buildings in the south of the country.

The quake occurred on Saturday morning near the municipality of Saint-Louis-du-Sud east of Les Cayes at a depth of about 10 kilometres.

According to the civil protection authority, at least 13,700 houses were destroyed and just as many damaged.

More than 30,000 families were affected.

According to the charity Caritas International, food, drinking water, tents, and first aid are needed most.

Haiti was ill-prepared for such as disaster, even after the devastating earthquake in 2010 that killed more than 220,000 people.

In addition, there is a deep political crisis that intensified after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise by a commando force in his residence on July 7.