Many in Petit-Goâve were asleep when La Digue river began to rise after midnight. By the time residents realised what was happening, it was too late. The river had burst its banks and swept away children, cars and homes as the outer bands of Hurricane Melissa lashed southern Haiti in late October.
One man escaped through a window while a woman grabbed onto a car and held her son tight to avoid being dragged by floodwaters that severely broke her leg. They survived, but the Category 5 hurricane, one of the strongest Atlantic storms in recorded history, killed at least 43 people in Haiti. More than a dozen others remain missing.
Most of the deaths occurred in Petit-Goâve, where the community mourned their own on Saturday. Eighteen caskets topped with bright yellow and orange flowers were carried into a public plaza where a crowd gathered to say its goodbyes. Many of the coffins were small, with Petit-Goâve losing at least 10 of its children.
Anger also prevailed, with a protest scheduled for Monday along a key highway to demand a quicker response and more aid from the government. The environment in Petit-Goâve remained tense, with some saying the deaths could have been prevented with better planning and infrastructure.
Hundreds of people lost their homes and jobs, and many are going hungry. Petit-Goâve used to be a farming community with a bustling commercial centre that saw 90% of its fields washed away in the storm, said Wanja Kaaria, the UN’s World Food Program director for Haiti. “It was very devastating,” she said. “It will take a while to really restore the markets.”
Officials in Haiti also are concerned about an increase in deaths in the storm's messy aftermath. More than 30 suspected cholera cases and six deaths have been reported in Petit-Goâve alone, said Boris Matous, UNICEF’s emergency specialist in Haiti. The agency is rehabilitating and chlorinating water pumps, installing hand-washing stations and setting up mobile clinics, but challenges persist.
