On the road from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, a Mercy Corps team pauses to photograph flooding from Hurricane Matthew. The water has come down from the mountains and flooded some fields and homes in the villages just outside Port-au-Prince.
Courtesy of Sean Sheridan/MercyCorps
Hurricane Matthew has carved a trail of devastation across southern Haiti, killing more than 800 people. Oregon-based MercyCorps is there.
Speaking from her office in Port-au-Prince, MercyCorps Haitian director Jessica Pearl says farmers were badly hit by the storm.
“The banana trees have just been broken in half essentially," she said. Pearl says soil has washed away and the crops aren't able to be recovered.
Pearl said staff are busy gauging the extent of the damage and delivering supplies, “So these include things like kitchen sets, hygiene items, soap, which is very important because of the risk of cholera. And water, which is obviously an essential item.”
Before the hurricane, she said MercyCorps was helping farmers and young entrepreneurs start new businesses.
Now they’re going to be focusing on shelter repair and helping farmers replant.