CNC3 journalist Khamal Georges was in Haiti last week covering the recovery effort of citizens there in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. He was the only T&T journalist on the ground and will provide our readers and CNC3 viewers with exclusive reports of what he witnessed.
While the death toll continues to rise in Haiti, thousands are giving thanks to be alive. “I did not think I would make it,” Felix Francois says. He and several others narrowly escaped with their lives when Matthew struck their hillside community in Les Cayes in the dark of the night.
The place he called home crumbled under the force of the winds, trapping him and his family. Felix says the severe weather began around 9 pm. An hour into the storm he realised his home would not stand up to the winds and he needed to get his family to safety.
But while they were preparing to leave, his home, made partly of stone, wood and straw, collapsed on them.
“When the neighbours came and saw me on the ground, they thought I was dead,” Felix recalls.
They removed him, his wife and children in the howling wind and battering rain.
“When I saw I was alive I said thanks to God, thanks for me being alive, me my wife and kids,” Felix says.
Today, he and his family are still sleeping in a neighbour’s gallery, hoping to begin the process of “rebuilding” their lives soon. He and his neighbours are not new to storms but nothing prepares them for what they bring. It pushed us, we had to walk on the ground.”
Almag Lesier crawled across the hillside with two stones as an anchor to ensure he was not swept away by the winds. His two grandchildren clutched at his arms as he manoeuvred in the darkness, winds and rain to find safe ground. His roof was blown off and he said the winds hurled debris like missiles.
“You have to walk and put your hands on the ground. I had to put the children on my back, hold them very tight so the wind didn’t get them,” he said.
The death toll in Haiti continues to rise. Initial reports suggested more than 1,000 people died.
More conservative estimates place the figure near 500. However, as relief efforts reach some of the worst his areas, the numbers are expected to rise.
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Guardian Media has partnered with ITNAC and is encouraging citizens to donate relief items to the group which has been involved in a range of humanitarian and developmental projects since 2003. Among the priority items needed are children’s clothes, non-perishable food, over the counter medication, baby supplies, bedsheets, towels and shoes. The items can be dropped off at Sa Maison Guest House, 6A Anderson Street, St James. Cash donations can be made to ITNAC’s accounts at First Citizens 1660410 or Republic Bank at 510009446802.
In addition to the Haiti donation boxes at Standard’s Store locations, boxes are now in the lobby areas at the following GML locations:
T&T Guardian Building, Chaguanas.
T&T Guardian Bureau, High Street, San Fernando.
T&T Guardian Bureau, Mid Centre Mall, Chaguanas.
T&T Guardian Building, Port-of-Spain.
Standard’s drop-off locations are:
Ansa House, Henry and Queen Streets, Port-of-Spain.
Henry Street.
St James.
San Juan.
Grand Bazaar.
Arima.
Princes Town.
High Street.
Coffee Street.
Scarborough.
Canan.