Crops wiped out by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti

Record ID: 82978

  • Title: Crops wiped out by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti
  • Date: 8th October 2016
  • Summary: LES CAYES, HAITI (OCTOBER 07, 2016) (REUTERS) A COW GRAZING CORN KERNELS BEING RAKED OUT TO DRY MAN RAKING CORN FARMER, ARMELLE COCK, WORKING WITH DRIED BEANS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) FARMER, ARMELLE COCK, SAYING: "I lost a hector and a half corn field. Life is very tough here." VARIOUS OF STORM DAMAGE DONE TO AGRICULTURAL AREA A CHICKEN IN A FLATTENED CORN FIELD FALLEN CORN PLANTS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) FARMER, GEFFRARD DUPLESSIS, SAYING: "We lost cows, and all of our crops. Nothing is left. And our homes are destroyed." STONES AND SUPPLIES OUTSIDE FARMER'S HOME GOATS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) PRESIDENTIAL REPRESENTATIVE IN THE SUD DEPARTMENT, LOUIS PAUL RAPHAEL, SAYING: "We need an agricultural campaign as soon as possible, because there is nothing left." GATHERED FOOD ON THE GROUND WOMAN COOKING FALLEN PALM TREE HOME DAMAGED BY THE HURRICANE
  • Embargoed: 23rd October 2016 05:39
  • Keywords: Haiti Hurricane Matthew hurricane storm agriculture crops
  • Location: LES CAYES, HAITI
  • City: LES CAYES, HAITI
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015357I2V
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hurricane Matthew killed more than 800 people and left tens of thousands homeless in Haiti earlier this week before it skirted Florida's Atlantic coast on Friday (October 7) and plowed northward over waters just off Georgia.
    The powerful storm left a wake of devastation in Haiti, especially in the hard hit southwest peninsula.
    The number of deaths in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, surged to at least 842 on Friday as information trickled in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm, according to a Reuters tally of death tolls given by officials.
    Survivors were left picking up the pieces with some accounts saying as much as 95 percent of crop lands were destroyed in the southern Sud department.
    "I lost a hector and a half corn field. Life is very tough here," said one farmer. Armelle Cock.
    "We lost cows, and all of our crops. Nothing is left. And our homes are destroyed," another farmer, Geffrard Duplessis said.
    The Sud department's presidential representative, Louis Paul Raphael, said immediate action was needed to help the agricultural industry in his department.
    "We need an agricultural campaign as soon as possible, because there is nothing left," he said.
    While highlighting the misery of underdevelopment in Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake, the storm looked certain to rekindle the debate about global warming and the long-term threat posed to low-lying cities and towns by rising sea levels.
    With cellphone networks down and roads flooded, aid has been slow to reach hard-hit areas in Haiti. Food was scarce, and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage.
    The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was heading for Haiti to support relief efforts. The ship has heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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