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UN chief in Haiti to get glimpse of Matthew’s destruction

People walk along a street lined with damaged and destroyed houses, in southwestern Haiti, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016. A week and a half after Hurricane Matthew devastated southwestern Haiti, aid is slowly starting to arrive in rural towns, patch-work roofs made from scraps abound, and some families are living in makeshift shelters crafted from the debris.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) People walk along a street lined with damaged and destroyed houses, in southwestern Haiti, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016. A week and a half after Hurricane Matthew devastated southwestern Haiti, aid is slowly starting to arrive in rural towns, patch-work roofs made from scraps abound, and some families are living in makeshift shelters crafted from the debris.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

By Associated Press October 15, 2016 1 min read

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Haiti to see firsthand a sliver of the extensive damage and destruction left by Hurricane Matthew.

Ban was greeted Saturday by Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles after he stepped out of a U.N. jet at the airport in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince.

He then boarded a helicopter traveling to the storm-damaged southern city of Les Cayes, where he was to visit one of many schools serving as an emergency shelter for families who lost homes.

Matthew’s eye made landfall Oct. 4 in a rugged region of southwest Haiti that’s home to more than 1 million people.

Haitian authorities have reported that the death toll was 546, though it’s likely to climb higher as reports continue to come in from remote areas.