HAITI: Tropical storm Emily may become Category 1 hurricane after it passes through Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Record ID: 333148

  • Title: HAITI: Tropical storm Emily may become Category 1 hurricane after it passes through Haiti and the Dominican Republic
  • Date: 4th August 2011
  • Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (AUGUST 03, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LOOKOUT TO OCEAN WHERE LARGE CLOUDS HAVE FORMED VARIOUS OF WIND BLOWING PALM TREES VARIOUS OF CANAPEVERT TENT CAMP WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME WORKER, STEPHANIE TREMBLAY, WORKING IN CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME WORKER, STEPHANIE TREMBLAY, SAYING: "It is a big concern obviously because there are more than 600,000 people that are still living in camps in Port-au-Prince. Big concern for us. We are ready to provide food assistance to them right after the storm if needed, obviously." VARIOUS OF TENT CAMP VARIOUS OF MEN LOADING RED CROSS EMERGENCY SUPPLIES ONTO TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (English) TREMBLAY, SAYING: "We've prepared, we've pre-positioned food in 35 areas all across Haiti. We've put food in place. We have trucks that are in place. We have put food supplies there that are sufficient to provide food assistance to people, to Haitians, after the storm for 517,000 Haitians and we're going to be able to help them for a total of 26 days." TREMBLAY WITH MAP SHOWING SUPPLIES CENTERS MANNED BY THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME GENERAL VIEW OF TENT CAMP ON SIDE OF MOUNTAIN VARIOUS OF TENTS AND TENT CAMP RESIDENTS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) CANAPEVERT REFUGEE CAMP PRESIDENT, BALTAZAR JACQUES, SAYING: "We have been here since January 12, 2010. In this camp there are 454 families living here. We have a lots of problems in the camp, the hurricane is near and we don't have anything to assist the people: no food, no drinking water, the tents are not in shape, we don't even have toilet we just don't know what to do." VARIOUS OF SAND BAGS PLACED ON PERIMETER OF CAMP TO PREVENT A MUDSLIDE GENERAL VIEW OF CAMP
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Haiti, Haiti
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: Disasters,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVAAG8RLF8PZ3AQEAG6PAEGPP5II
  • Story Text: Tropical Storm Emily took aim at Haiti on Wednesday (August 03), threatening to add to the misery of a chronically poor nation struggling to recover from last year's devastating earthquake.
    Emily has already unleashed rain over Haiti and is packing sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (85 kph).
    The people most at risk are those living in camps like this - the Canapevert refugee camp sprung up in Port-au-Prince after last year's devastating earthquake.
    About 600,000 Haitians are still living in camps, with nothing more than makeshift tents and tarpaulins to protect them from the tropical storm.
    "It is a big concern obviously because there are more than 600,000 people that are still living in camps in Port-au-Prince. Big concern for us. We are ready to provide food assistance to them right after the storm if needed, obviously," said Stephanie Tremblay, from the United Nations World Food Programme in Haiti.
    Haitian President Michel Martelly has still been able to install a new government in Haiti, with renewed attempts to appoint a new prime minister struck down in parliament again on Tuesday.
    The stalemate makes preparations for potential disasters like hurricanes difficult to carry out.
    NGOs like the Red Cross and the United Nations' World Food Programme are trying to fill in the gaps.
    "We've prepared, we've pre-positioned food in 35 areas all across Haiti. We've put food in place. We have trucks that are in place. We have put food supplies there that are sufficient to provide food assistance to people, to Haitians, after the storm for 517,000 Haitians and we're going to be able to help them for a total of 26 days," Tremblay said.
    Emily was about 60 miles (95 km) southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic, near its border with Haiti, at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
    Its center was due to pass over southwest Haiti early on Thursday morning and then over extreme eastern Cuba Thursday night.
    The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Emily could dump as much as 20 inches (50 cm) of rain on parts of Hispaniola, the Caribbean island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
    "We have been here since January 12, 2010. In this camp there are 454 families living here. We have a lots of problems in the camp, the hurricane is near and we don't have anything to assist the people: no food, no drinking water, the tents are not in shape, we don't even have toilet we just don't know what to do," Canapevert refugee camp president, Baltazar Jacques, said.
    At Canapevert a row of sandbags has been put up to try and protect the people from mudslides.
    Haiti is especially vulnerable to the threat of life-threatening flash floods and mudslides because of what experts describe as its near-total deforestation.
    If Emily survives its trek across the high terrain of Hispaniola, the National Hurricane Center said weather conditions appeared to support intensification later this week and it could turn into a low-level Category 1 hurricane on Monday, when it is projected to start moving out over the open Atlantic Ocean, forecasters said
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