The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has called for a “massive response” to help Haiti after the devastation of Hurricane Matthew as local aid officials struggle to get food, medicine and water to increasingly desperate communities still isolated almost a week after the impact from the deadly storm.
“Some towns and villages have been almost wiped off the map,” Ban told reporters. “Tensions are already mounting as people await help. A massive response is required. UN teams are working with local officials to assess needs.”
According to The Guardian UK, the UN humanitarian agency in Geneva, meanwhile, made an emergency appeal for nearly $120m in aid to help provide “life-saving assistance and protection” for 750,000 people in south-western Haiti over the next three months.
UN officials said earlier that at least 1.4 million people across the region needed assistance and that 2.1 million overall had been affected by the hurricane. Some 175,000 people remained in shelters Monday.
The agency said flooding had hampered efforts to reach the most affected areas, and that the hurricane had increased the risk of a “renewed spike” in the number of Cholera cases. A continuing cholera outbreak has already killed roughly 10,000 people and sickened more than 800,000 since 2010.
According to reports, power was still out, water and food were scarce on Monday, and officials said young men in villages along the road between the hard-hit cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie were putting up blockades of rocks and broken branches to halt convoys of vehicles bringing relief supplies.
One convoy carrying food, water and medications was attacked by gunmen in a remote valley where there had been a mudslide, said Frednel Kedler, coordinator for the civil protection agency in the Grand-Anse department, which includes Jeremie. He said authorities would try to reach marooned and desperate communities west of Jeremie on Monday.
The National Civil Protection headquarters in Port-au-Prince on Monday raised its official nationwide death toll to 372, which included 198 deaths in Grand-Anse. Local officials have said the toll tops 500 in Grand-Anse alone.