A dire situation in Haiti turned worse Tuesday as heavy downpours from Tropical Storm Grace caused flooding and delayed rescue efforts following Saturday’s deadly earthquake that killed at least 1,400 people. The difficulties have left many survivors in urgent need of food, supplies and medical attention.
To discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis, Jim Braude was joined on Greater Boston by Linda Dorcena Forry, a former Massachusetts legislator who was the state’s first state senator of Haitian descent, and Pierre Noel, executive director of the Haiti Development Institute, an initiative of the Boston Foundation.
Braude noted that a large amount of Haiti’s food is produced in the affected region. “This is a compounding issue in terms of this horrific earthquake,” Dorcena Forry said. “But, there’s been food insecurity for awhile, at least for the last several months in Haiti. To have this tragedy happen — it’s horrible.”
“Right now, the need is mostly around care for the sick and injured,” Noel said, noting that this earthquake differed from the 2010 one that hit a populated urban area. “You have rural communities that are decimated. So, water is key. People need temporary housing. Food — people don’t have access to certain things because of the disconnect [between rural communities] that was exacerbated by the earthquake.”
WATCH: Haiti earthquake victims await medical care and supplies
