The Red Cross has launched
an emergency appeal to provide immediate relief to 50,000 Haitians. It is
aiming to raise more than £5m for medical relief, shelter, water and sanitation
over the next year.
Medics in Haiti are
preparing for a likely surge in cholera cases as the nation is left with
damaged water supplies in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.
The deadly hurricane has
battered the Caribbean, with Haiti the worst-hit.
Officials have said the
number killed on the island nation has risen to 339 while more than 3,200 homes
have been destroyed.
Some 21,000 survivors are
now seeking refuge at just 152 shelters as the deadly storm moves on towards
the US east coast.
Four people have also been
killed in the Dominican Republic, one in Colombia and one in St Vincent and the
Grenadines.
Health officials in Haiti
are bracing themselves for an increase in cases of cholera due to severely
damaged water supplies and sanitation systems.
"Due to massive
flooding and its impact on water and sanitation infrastructure, cholera cases
are expected to surge after Hurricane Matthew and through the normal rainy
season until the start of 2017," the Pan American Health Organization said
in a statement.
Even before the storm hit
this week, the impoverished nation was struggling to stem the waterborne
disease.
Rescue workers are
struggling to reach remote areas due to flooded roads, collapsed bridges and
power outages.
The southern city of
Jeremie is said to have suffered "complete destruction", while a
bridge over the La Digue river in Petit Goave has been destroyed.
In Les Cayes, home to a
major port, a cathedral roof has been completely blown off, and banana and
mango crops have been ravaged in fields.
The Haitian government has
estimated at least 350,000 people will need some sort of help following the
disaster.
poor people
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