In the commune of Petit-Goâve, in southern Haiti, the streets are flooded after the La Digue river overflowed, due to the rains caused by Hurricane Melissa as it passed through the Caribbean, a flood that left at least twenty people dead, half of them children, and ten missing.
“A tree fell on me,” Willyo Bontang, 64, explained to EFE, who remains in a local hospital with a fractured foot.
He is one of the at least ten injured left by the overflowing of the river that runs through this town.
Bontang is on one of the stretchers with a bandaged foot, and next to him are other injured people.
Outside, people walk in the darkness among the flooded streets of Petit-Goâve, as witnessed by EFE.
This afternoon, the country's Director General of Civil Protection, Emmanuel Pierre, announced that the search for the missing will continue.
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and guaranteed the "total" mobilization of the Government to address the situation triggered by the rains, which"have caused damage particularly in the Grand South and the commune of Petit-Goâve".
The provisional assessment of what happened"remains worrying."
Also, the president of Haiti's Transitional Council, Laurent-Saint Cyr, expressed his condolences for the deceased.
“This is a sad moment for the country. Hurricane Melissa has struck our nation. In addition to the deaths (...) there is significant material damage: destroyed houses, flooded fields, lost livestock, and cut-off roads, especially in the Great South and the city of Petit-Goâve,” the president stated on X.
“As we continue to closely monitor the evolving situation, I want to express my deepest condolences to all the families who have lost a loved one. I have a special thought for those who have passed away. Hurricane Melissa has brought even more tears to a family that was already suffering,” the Haitian leader lamented.
In addition, Saint-Cyr announced that he had called on the Government to mobilize all relevant public services and provide resources to local authorities to deal with this natural disaster.
“Now all efforts must be focused on search and rescue operations and emergency aid to all our brothers and sisters,” he said.
And he concluded: “May God protect Haiti and comfort all its children.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted a more intense than usual hurricane season this year, with between 13 and 18 named storms, of which up to five could reach major hurricane status. After a relatively calm start, reality confirmed the forecast. Melissa and other similar storms demonstrate that climate models are no longer hypothetical projections, but descriptions of an increasingly extreme present.
