LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) – Two days after Hurricane Matthew rampaged across Haiti’s remote southwestern peninsula with roaring winds and flooding rains, local authorities and international aid workers still lack a clear picture of the storm’s destruction.
But the weather began calming Wednesday and a way was found around a key bridge that was washed away, allowing convoys and helicopters to start ventruing to marooned corners to assess the damage and determine how to help thousands of people who lost homes, livestock and crops.
The death toll was raised to 10 by Haiti’s civil protection agency Wednesday evening, but the number was expected to tick upward as more hard-hit rural areas are reached Thursday and people tell their stories.
In Aquin, a south coast town outside the battered city of Les Cayes, people trudged through the mud around the wreckage of clapboard houses and tiny shops.
Cenita Leconte was one of many coastal residents who initially ignored official calls to evacuate vulnerable shacks before Matthew roared ashore at dawn Tuesday as a Category 4 hurricane. The 75-year-old is thankful she finally complied and made it through the terrifying ordeal with her life.