“Ike” is the fourth hurricane, after “Fay”, “Gustave”, “Hanna”, which in less than a month has struck the Caribbean country. The city to suffer the most from “Ike” has been Cabaret, about 50 km from Port-au-Prince. Relief agencies are finding it difficult to respond on account of blocked roads.

There seems to be no solution to the problems of Gonaives. As the days pass  bodies of people and the carcasses of animals that were drowned in the storms of hurricane “Hanna” and caught in mud slides are surfacing from the water and the mud.

Even though less severe, “Ike” has been a great trial for the Salesians in Gonaives who in spite of the damage they have suffered had taken in some of the survivors from the surrounding area. Over 600 have died and there are thousands of homeless people who have lost almost everything. The hurricanes have created more victims and destruction and further impoverished the survivors.

Published 09/08/2008