Live updates on Hurricane Matthew
Hurricane Matthew made landfall on the south-western tip of Haiti on Oct. 4, and could affect millions of people in Haiti before reaching Cuba the same day, according to the United Nations. The Haitian government is asking the international community for help. With 100 Handicap International staff already on the ground in Haiti, our teams are mobilized and plan to launch an emergency response based on the needs identified once it is safe to do so.
More than 1,200 people are currently displaced in temporary shelters in the towns of Cayes and Jeremie and more than 300,000 people may need immediate assistance following the storm. Coastal flooding was recorded in 11 regions in the Grand Anse, Nippes, and Sud regions. The hurricane will reach Mole Saint Nicolas (north-western coast of Haiti) and the southern coast of Cuba on Tuesday night.
“We are preparing to deal with a major disaster. Our teams are getting ready to assess the scale of the disaster and plan to launch an emergency response in aid of the affected populations, based on the needs identified,” said Jean-François Michel, head of Handicap International’s operations in Haiti.
In Cuba, the regions of Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantanamo have been placed on high alert. An emergency plan has been set in motion in Cuba and more than 900,000 people are currently being evacuated. Learn more about our work in Cuba.
Handicap International in Haiti and Cuba
Handicap International has been present in Cuba (province of Pinar del Rio, province of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Baracoa, and Guantanamo) since 1998 and Haiti (region of Port-au-Prince, department of Nippes, municipality of Delmas, municipality of Carrefour, and the departments of Artibonite, and Nord) since 2008. In Haiti, Handicap International provided support to tens of thousands of victims of the earthquake of January 2010 and to individuals affected by subsequent hurricanes, Isaac and Sandy in 2012. Learn more about our work in Haiti.