ARTICLE - TOMAS: NEWS FROM REGIONS

HAITI - TOMAS: NEWS FROM REGIONS AFTER HURRICANE
(HaitiLibre.com)

The assessment of hurricane Tomas can begin. The evaluation work will likely continue for the next 48-72 hours, many areas are flooded, some areas are accessible only by helicopter, many roads are cut off after floods, landslides or mudslides. The helicopters of the American ship USS Iwo Jima, which was to intervene Friday saw all their flights cancelled because of high winds and heavy rains, according to Lt. Col. Chris Richie, which provides for the resumption of relief operations and evaluation today. It is too early to know the assessment in loss of life, material damage are important in certain areas, others seem to have been partially spared.

Floods in Gonaives are reported by MINUSTAH, reported that 25 to 35 centimeters of standing water in Raboto, K-Soleil, Jubilee, and at Parc Vincent. The Direction of Civil Protection (DPC) and local authorities have reported damage due to wind and heavy rain.In the department of the West, a large quantity of homes were destroyed in Ti Guinea, Morregal, Gaston and in the communes of Petit Goâve and Ocupid. The assessments are underway.

Based on preliminary assessments the damage are important in the agricultural sector in the municipalities of Corail, Anse D'hainaut, Pestel and Dame Marie.Houses are flooded, crops destroyed, trees uprooted in the following communes : Plaisance-du-Sud, Miragoâne, Fonds-des-Nègres, Arnaud.

Landslides were reported in Desmarais and Paillant.

In Grand Goave, the area most affected is Petit Paradis (communal section 7) which is flooded.

The DPC assesses, 7 teams are monitoring the situation.Refugee camp of Tabarre Issa must be evacuated, but no location has yet been identified. The mayor's office said working with the community to find a place to accommodate them.

Due to the evacuation of some 354 inmates of the prison Les Cayes and 214 inmates of the prison in Gonaïves (info DPC) on the Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, it is overcrowded.

Local authorities of Ganthier reported that the bridge over the Rivière Blanche is under water but it is good.The city of Dame-Marie, a seaside town has been severely affected.

Many houses were destroyed totally or partially at Beaumont and Léon (Grande-Anse).

In the heights of Grande-Anse, especially in Beaumont (between Jeremie and Les Cayes) considerable damage are reported to plantations and houses.

Apricots, the coastal town of Grande-Anse, floods have caused extensive damage. Many houses and schools destroyed.

MINUSTAH and the DPC report that several hospitals and health centers have been evacuated.

Patients of the Drouin Centre in Grande Saline were transferred to hospital in Verrettes and San Marc.

Patients of the Hospital Raboto were transferred to the Bon Secours hospital in Gonaïves.

MINUSTAH reported that cholera continues to be a problem while hospitals require additional support in terms of health supplies and human resources.

The mayors of Gros-Morne, Marmalade, Saint Michel have asked for emergency aid to tackle the spread of cholera in their communes. Medical facilities are overcrowded with patients affected by cholera and lack of access to medical services for people with other diseases.

Death toll (PARTIAL) of Friday, October 5:

Two people, including a boy of 10 years, died at Beaumont and Léon (Grande-Anse).

In Léogâne two people have died trying to evacuate their flooded home.

One person died in the town of La Roche-à-Bateau (South), as the mayor of the city.