UN seeks $119M to help Haiti after Hurricane Matthew

SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep.

The United Nations on Monday announced humanitarian aid to help Haiti cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew that killed 372 people there, according to latest officials figures.

The global body urged donors to contribute $119 million in funds to help at least 1.4 million Haitians in need of humanitarian assistance after the Category 4 storm tore through the country, UN Ban Ki-moon said.

“A massive response is required. Hundreds have died; some towns and villages have been almost wiped off the map,” Ban told reporters at UN headquarters.

Following the visit from its President Danilo Medina to Haiti on Sunday, the Dominican Republic began to move truckloads of raw and processed food, medicine, zinc, mattresses, wood, and chlorination systems for drinking water.

The neighboring country also sent equipment to repair roads and bridges, mainly in Haiti’s south where a province was cut off front the rest of the ry after the collapse of its main bridge.

Three hospitals under construction near the border area will be ready to provide medical care to injured Haitians and prevent the spread of diseases, the Medina administration announced Monday.

Meanwhile, Chile has pledged to provide $50,000 and other assistance and, Cuba has sent 38 medical professionals who re specialized in disasters and epidemics.

A week after the devastating hurricane, agencies say four people remain missing, 246 are injured, and 175,509 are placed in provisional shelters, according to a report published Monday.

Officials counted 198 dead in Grand Anse and 78 in the Sud, the two most affected departments out of a total of 10 that make up Haiti.

At least 300 schools have been damaged, according to preliminary evaluations.

The Haitian government is seeking to reach communities that are still without access but tensions are mounting while residents await help.

“Some communities are still without access land and there are rivers between them; several roads are severely damaged,” civil society leader Colette Lespinasse told Anadolu Agency.

Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund raised concerns about the threat of waterborne diseases for children living in the worst-affected areas.

A cholera epidemic is one of these threats since it has affected more than 700,000 and killed nearly 10,000 after its outbreak in Haiti in 2010.