Weeks after Hurricane Matthew, Haitians struggle for clean water and adequate supplies
It’s been nearly a month since Hurricane Matthew tore through southern Haiti and the affected people still have to spend their meagre savings to buy drinking water. Life is slowly getting back to normal. Reuters
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It's been nearly a month since Hurricane Matthew tore through southern Haiti and the affected people still have to spend their meagre savings to buy drinking water. Life is slowly getting back to normal. Reuters
Roughly 90 percent of the piped water supply systems in south-west Haiti were damaged by the storm that struck 4 October, according to Haiti's National Water and Sanitation Directorate. People walk next to destroyed houses in Jeremie. Reuters
The extensive contamination of wells and a large amount of rain dumped by Hurricane Matthew created ideal conditions for spreading waterborne diseases including cholera, which causes rapid dehydration and can kill a human within hours if not treated. Reuters
Two water purification stations operated by French government emergency workers have so far transformed river water into 450,000 liters of potable water in Jeremie. Reuters
However, international specialists say many communities right along shorelines still aren't getting adequate supplies. Reuters
An army of international relief teams have put enormous work into cleaning contaminated wells, distributing millions of water-purifying tablets and installing water treatment stations in areas that bore the worst of the hurricane. Reuters