IOM Haiti responds quickly as storm tears through Corail camp
IOM and its humanitarian partners in Haiti were quickly on the
scene after a heavy storm struck Corail camp in the hills above
Port au Prince on Monday afternoon.
Flying debris from the storm caused six people to be injured and
damaged or destroyed 344 tents, forcing around 1,700 people to seek
emergency shelter overnight.
The Corail camp is home to some 7,000 people who were displaced
by the January 2010 earthquake. They live in 1,300 family sized
tents while an urgent programme is underway to replace their tents
with durable transitional shelters made of wood with tin roofs.
As the summer storm blasted through the campsite at 4 PM
yesterday, six people were left injured by flying tent poles and
were quickly taken to nearby Croix de Bouquet hospital for
treatment.
An assessment team including IOM Camp Management, MINUSTAH UN
police and Haitian national police was at the location 1 hour after
the storm had passed. They found the camp in considerable disarray,
with anxious residents concerned for their safety and seeking
shelter. As residents raised their voices and demanded help,
IOM’s team of community mobilizers helped calm tempers and
reassure people that help was on the way.
Those whose tents had been destroyed by the storm were provided
with emergency shelter overnight in a World Vision hall. A team of
10 IOM staff were on hand to help while other colleagues began
collecting 344 tents, 400 tarps, rope and other essential non-food
items (NFIs). Replacement tents were distributed to the IDPs at
11:00am this morning.
World Vision, which is already building transitional shelters in
Corail, donated 100 of the tents and IOM obtained a further 244
through the Shelter cluster and MSF Holland. IOM helped transport
the tents to Corail and assisted the American Refugee Committee
camp managers distributing the tents while making further
assessments of the damage.
Security for the operation was provided by UNPOL and ambulance
and military escorts were also sent to help maintain order.
This incident highlights the need to step up disaster
preparedness measures across the board as the hurricane season gets
into full swing.
Photos of the scene at Camp Corail can be viewed on the IOM
Haiti Flickr page:
For further information, please contact:
Leonard Doyle
Media and Communication Officer
IOM Haiti
Tel: + 509 3702 5066
E-mail:
"mailto:ldoyle@iom.int">ldoyle@iom.int