Tropical storm "Grace" threatens further devastation
Cologne/Port-au-Prince. After the severe earthquake last Saturday, tropical storm "Grace" now threatens to make landfall in Haiti on Monday night. The Malteser International team has already got an overview of the situation in the earthquake zone and is now starting to distribute food, drinking water, medicine and protective equipment against the threat of heavy rain.
"Thousands of people have lost what little they had. They are camping under simple tarpaulins. The impending tropical storm will leave them completely unprotected. Now it is necessary to act quickly. We will immediatly start distributing protective materials against the rain, in addition to the basic necessities" says Carla Wehmeier, Malteser International's Project Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Around 1,300 people lost their lives in the earthquake last Saturday, and around 5,700 were injured. Numerous people are still missing. "The death toll is rising by the hour and there is still no end in sight. And already the people in the earthquake zone are threatened by the next natural disaster," says Yolette Etienne, program coordinator in Haiti for Malteser International.
The hospitals are overloaded. Many injured people cannot be treated. "We will provide the health facilities with medicines and medical supplies. We will also provide psychosocial care to the severely traumatized people. And in a few weeks, we will start helping with reconstruction," Wehmeier says.
Malteser International has been working in Haiti since the reconstruction after the earthquake in 2010, now mainly in the department of Nippes.
Note to editors:
Carla Wehmeier, Program Manager Latin America & Caribbean and
Yolette Etienne, Project Coordinator at Malteser International are available for interviews.
Press Contact:
Katharina Kiecol
Tel.: +49 (0)221 98227 181
katharina.kiecol(at)malteser-international.org
