Weather forecasters provided residents of Haiti with a good news/bad news report on Thursday. The good news: Tomas, once a hurricane expected to smack the island nation with a direct punch, is now more likely to deliver a more glancing blow as a much weaker tropical storm. The bad news: Tomas still could pound the nation with rainfall amounts from 5 to 15 inches and high winds. If that proves the case, a country still struggling to overcome the effects of a massive earthquake in January will face a major setback in its already feeble recovery efforts.
Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere before the earthquake, is even poorer now. Rubble still covers vast areas. Infrastructure is almost nonexistent. Hundreds of thousands of people — some sources put the number at a million — still live in temporary shelters erected after the quake. Neither the nation nor its people is prepared to cope with even a minor weather event. A weakened Tomas promises to be more than that.
Tomas’ winds and rains likely will prompt landslides and flash flooding in a landscape devoid of trees. Storm-induced high tides could force evacuation of low-lying coastal areas. And post-storm conditions, public health officials worry, could prompt an increase in cholera cases. Nearly 500 people have died from a stubborn outbreak of the disease in recent weeks. Containment efforts have had mixed success, but the storm will make the task even more difficult.
Haitian officials and international relief organizations working in the country — already “maxed out” by attempting to meet post-earthquake needs, according to a spokesman for one of the aid groups — nevertheless joined forces to prepare for the storm. Some sites were opened in buildings better able to withstand rain and wind than the temporary tent villages. The number of storm shelters, though, is limited. The earthquake destroyed many of the buildings that once would have been used as havens.
Available food, water and medical supplies were stockpiled for use after the storm passes. Local efforts were abetted by the international community. The United States quickly dispatched the USS Iwo Jima to Haiti to provide humanitarian aid. Other nations pledged prompt assistance of various types to the Haitian government, as well. The fear, understandably, is that Tomas still will deliver a debilitating blow to a people and a nation still struggling to gain equilibrium following the January earthquake.
The effort to move people from temporary camps to safe heavens continued Thursday evening as Tomas moved toward Haiti’s western coast. In one camp, a policeman shouted to residents through a megaphone. “The hurricane is not a joke! … You need to get out of here.” Some heeded the warning, but others did not. Like many people in Haiti, they have little choice but to ride out the storm and hope for the best.