Earthquake in Haiti: the official toll climbs to 1,941 and the number of injured to more than 9,900

The number of deaths per the magnitude 7.2 earthquake which rocked southwestern Haiti over the weekend rose to 1,941 and the number of injured to over 9,900the Caribbean Nation’s Civil Protection Directorate reported on Tuesday.

More than 60,000 houses were destroyed and another 76,000 suffered various damages, while many public buildings were also affected or collapsed in the earthquake, Haitian authorities added.

The powerful earthquake occurred about 100 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Thousands of people made homeless by the disaster faced further misery when Tropical storm Grace hit impoverished country with records of up to 38 cubic centimeters of rain.

The National Hurricane Center in the United States has warned against sudden and urban flooding and possible landslides.

Still reeling from the 2010 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti was already reeling from the assassination of its president Jovenel Moise on July 7 when the disaster occurred.

Moise was murdered in his home by a army squad, shaking a country that is already fighting sacrificially against growing gang violence and the scourge of the coronavirus pandemic.

So far, help has arrived from abroad, including specialized research teams from the United States, as well as 15.4 tons of food, medicine and water from Mexico.

A magnitude 7 earthquake in January 2010 had left much of Port-au-Prince and neighboring towns in ruins, killing more than 200,000 people.

More than 1.5 million Haitians were left homeless in this disaster, which also destroyed 60% of Haiti’s health system, leaving a huge challenge for the authorities and the international humanitarian community.

This time, in the midst of the disaster, drenched and exhausted, many Haitians had no choice but to relieve themselves in streets threatened by flooding. In the town of Los Cayos, More than 200 people have set up precarious shelters on a flooded football field in persistent wind and rain.

To the ordeal of the victims who sleep in the open air were added the showers of tropical storm Grace on Tuesday. In these conditions, Haitian authorities have called for “increased vigilance” in the face of cracked houses, which could eventually collapse under the weight of the rain.

the United States, which evacuated 40 people in emergency, chartered eight helicopters to measure the extent of the disaster using aerial images.

Access to water is also still very limited in some places, as in the municipality of Pestel, where more than 1,800 cisterns are cracked or destroyed.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has declared a state of emergency for one month in the four departments affected by the disaster. Yes indeed, the poorest Caribbean country faces political chaos, a month after the assassination of its president, which complicates its governance.

(With information from AFP)

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