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Sep 3, 2008 7:09 pm US/Eastern
Florida Agency Sending Help To Haiti
Parts Of Haiti In Dire Straits After 3 Tropical Storms
COCONUT CREEK (CBS4) ―
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Haitians cross a bridge as Tropical Storm Gustav floods Port-au-Prince on Aug. 27, 2008.
Thony Belizaire/Getty Images
Help is on the way to Haiti and other areas of the Caribbean in dire straits after undergoing Tropical Storms Fay, Gustav and Hanna.
Florida based Food for the Poor, the second-largest international relief and development organization in the nation, is preparing to send its first relief supplies to families in Jamaica and Haiti. These supplies include drinking water, hygiene kits, blankets and buckets.
"We have these bars of soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste," said Angel Aloma, "And these little bits of clothing for little children."
Aloma, Food For The Poor's Executive Director, said they plan to ship some of the items from its Coconut Creek warehouse on Wednesday, while additional supplies will be shipped directly from donors in other states.
"One of the biggest concerns is the lack of proper hygiene after the flooding. These kits will help a lot of people," said Aloma.
Aloma said his agency has received reports that nonstop rain from Hanna has caused severe flooding throughout Haiti. He says the city of Gonaives is experiencing worse flooding than when Tropical Storm Jean hit the island in 2004, with more than 3,000 lives lost. To help reduce the death toll from Hanna, Food For The Poor is using some of its fishing boats to rescue people from the rising waters. In Port-de-Paix, Aloma says, some residents have been on rooftops for more than a day with no food or water.
"Haiti is such a poor country as it is and conditions there are now so desperate that we have to think about helping the people there," said Aloma.
Flood waters and mudslides from the three storms have claimed more than 21 lives. As of Tuesday night, Hanna was responsible for 21 deaths in Haiti, including 12 dead in Gonaives which had been cut off by rising flood waters. A convoy carrying Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis abandoned its mission Gonaives when one of the cars in the group was nearly swept away.
Food For The Poor plans to send nearly a million dollars worth of aid within the next two weeks, but because of the number of storms that have hit the Caribbean and the wide-ranging damage that has been caused additional donations are greatly needed.
Click Here if you would like to help or call 1-800-487-1158.
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