- Title: Water, food in short supply in Haitian shelters after Matthew devastates
- Date: 7th October 2016
- Summary: LES CAYES, HAITI (OCTOBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CARRYING AN INJURED WOMAN TO A SHELTER A WOMAN WITH A BRUISED FACE AND A BANDAGE OVER HER EYE A BOY SITTING OUTSIDE A SHELTER AN ELDERLY PERSON SITTING ON A BENCH LOOKING OUT FROM A SHELTER MEMBERS OF THE HAITIAN RED CROSS IN A MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) PRESIDENT OF THE HAITIAN RED CROSS IN THE SUD DEPARTMENT, MARIE YVEPT FENELON, SAYING: "We've already accounted for 238 deaths. There are 34,979 people in the shelters." VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF A SHELTER WOMAN ON A BENCH OUTSIDE A SHELTER EXTERIOR OF SHELTER PEOPLE SITTING ON BENCH MOISE DAVID (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) HEAD OF OPERATIONS FOR THE HAITIAN RED CROSS, MOISE DAVID, SAYING: "After visiting the shelter, I've realized there isn't any water. There's no water. We can't help the people, there's no food. And there are additional problems given the way people are living in the shelters." AN INJURED WOMAN SITTING WITH HER FAMILY CLOSE-UP OF INJURED WOMAN'S FOOT (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) UNIDENTIFIED INJURED WOMAN, SAYING: "I need medicine. My son and I are sick. It's been almost three days since I injured my foot and we still haven't gotten anything." EXTERIOR OF A SHELTER
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2016 04:10
- Keywords: Haiti Les Cayes Hurricane Matthew hurricane storm shelter
- Location: LES CAYES, HAITI
- City: LES CAYES, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
- Reuters ID: LVA0015307Y2V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Matthew, the first major hurricane threatening a direct hit on the United States in more than 10 years, closed in on Florida on Thursday (October 6) after killing hundreds of people in Haiti on its destructive march north through the Caribbean.
Some 339 people were killed in Haiti, local officials said, and thousands were displaced after the storm flattened homes, uprooted trees and inundated whole neighbourhoods earlier in the week.
The number has continued to creep up as more word gets out from outlying areas of Haiti.
Marie Yvept Fenelon, the president of the Haitian Red Cross in the southwestern Sud Department, one of the hardest hit areas in Haiti, said 238 people were killed there alone.
"We've already accounted for 238 deaths. There are 34,979 people in the shelters," she said.
The Haitian Red Cross has also said area shelters were short on water, food, medicine and other supplies.
"After visiting the shelter, I've realized there isn't any water. There's no water. We can't help the people, there's no food. And there are additional problems given the way people are living in the shelters," said the Haitian Red Cross' operations officer, Moise David.
People staying in the shelters also complained they were in need of medicine and other supplies.
"I need medicine. My son and I are sick. It's been almost three days since I injured my foot and we still haven't gotten anything," a hurricane victim told Reuters.
Another four people were killed in the Dominican Republic, which neighbours Haiti.
Matthew's top sustained winds had dropped to 130 mph by Thursday night. But it remained a Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as it neared Florida, where it could either plow inland or tear along the Atlantic coast through Friday night, the Miami-based centre said.
Few storms with winds as powerful as Matthew's have struck Florida, and the NHC warned of "potentially disastrous impacts."
The U.S. National Weather Service said the storm could be the most powerful to strike northeast Florida in 118 years. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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