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Hurricane Matthew, which struck Haiti on 4th October, has caused the biggest humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake. In the Les Cayes region alone, more than 3,000 casualties have been recorded, while the hospitals are struggling with extremely limited resources. Handicap International is starting its operation to provide rehabilitation care to the injured. In addition, the distribution of more than 1,000 kits enabling emergency repairs to be made to people’s homes is about to get underway.
 

Handicap International has been running operations in Libya since 2011. The organization is now focused on helping children in Tripoli. Every day our mobile team reaches out to children with rehabilitation needs. And an awareness-raising campaign about psychosocial risks and the inclusion of children with disabilities will benefit more than 3,000 people.

Following the passage of Hurricane Matthew, 180,000 people in Haiti have been forced to seek refuge in temporary shelters. They are now starting the long wait to be rehoused. In the biggest city in southwest Haiti, Les Cayes, dozens of displaced families have transformed the classrooms of Philippe Guerrier secondary school into makeshift dormitories. We spoke to them about their experiences.

More than a week after Haiti was hit by Hurricane Matthew, the misery of its victims continues to deepen. The worst hit areas remain difficult to access and food insecurity is growing by the day. Handicap International has expanded its emergency teams to aid the most isolated vulnerable people.

As Handicap International’s emergency teams travel to the areas worst affected by Hurricane Matthew to supply aid to victims, an air cargo of humanitarian equipment is scheduled to land in Port-au-Prince on the evening of Wednesday 13th October. With access to the southwest of the country still unreliable a week after the disaster, Handicap International is organizing the transport of aid by sea.

Les Cayes, the capital of the Sud department, was one of the main urban areas affected by the passage of Hurricane Matthew on 4th October 2016. A week after the disaster, resilient but resigned, the inhabitants of the city’s rural neighborhoods are slowly getting back on their feet.

There has been a worldwide surge in natural disasters, as seen when Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti and Cuba on 4th October 2016. Being more prepared for such events would save lives. For Handicap International, which is implementing 15 natural disaster risk reduction projects across the world, it is crucial that local people are trained directly. 

Handicap International strongly condemns the air strike on a funeral hall which killed 140 people and injured 500 in Sanaa, on Saturday 8th October 2016. The ongoing bombing of civilians and civil infrastructure must be stopped immediately.

Present in Haiti before Hurricane Matthew hit, Handicap International’s local teams supported by emergency specialists, are preparing to supply aid to the most vulnerable people. More than 1.4 million people now need immediate assistance. As the death toll continues to rise, hundreds of thousands of people are still unable to access humanitarian aid in some areas of the country.

Mental health problems in people affected by the conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Ukraine are leaving an entire generation traumatized by armed violence. Often neglected, mental health disorders linked to this type of trauma can have severe repercussions on the whole of society and impede its reconstruction.

As the death toll in Haiti soars to more than 1,000 after the passage of Hurricane Matthew, humanitarian organizations including Handicap International face a race against the clock. Rising casualty numbers threaten to overwhelm the few health centers and hospitals not hit by the disaster. Large sections of the population are also at risk from epidemics.

After Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti last Tuesday, Handicap International has been mobilizing its teams in the field, supported by its emergency specialists who arrived on Friday. A large part of the country has been devastated and thousands of homes destroyed. The United Nations estimates that more than 2.1 million people have been affected, of whom 1.4 million immediate assistance.

The death toll in Haiti continues to rise as assessment teams gain access to areas worst affected by Hurricane Matthew, which made landfall on Tuesday 4th October. More than 500 people are estimated to have been killed by the hurricane, which has also caused severe material damage. Handicap International’s emergency backup team arrived in Haiti on Friday.

As Haiti begins to recover from the passage of Hurricane Matthew, the impact of the disaster is still uncertain for large sections of the population, which remain isolated and without any means of communication. Hélène Robin, who is coordinating the emergency operations from Handicap International’s head office in Lyon, gave us a situation update.

Handicap International’s teams already present in Haiti are preparing to assess the damage and the essential needs of people affected by Hurricane Matthew. A backup team is expected to arrive in Haiti on Friday 6th October 9am (local time) to help organize the emergency response and facilitate access by humanitarian organizations to areas worst hit by Hurricane Matthew.