Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 hurricane that continues to wreak havoc on the United States’ Eastern Seaboard, has devastated Haitian communities on its way to the US, a tragedy both harrowing and largely ignored.
CNN Correspondent Shasta Darlington reported on the scene, saying, "The death toll is rising on an hourly basis as aid workers and authorities get into these really hard-hit regions where not only communication and power were knocked out, but the roads were knocked out, so there has really been no way in."
At least 877 Haitian people have been confirmed dead after the storm swept through Haiti’s southern coast at speeds close to 145 mph, leaving complete destruction in its wake.
"What we've seen thus far has been a fairly large-spread destruction in the south, potentially at points of 90% destruction in some of locations - complete destruction,” said Kate Corrigan, a nurse working in Haiti with Innovating Health International whose team’s helicopter has been unable to land in some regions.
Hurricane Matthew hits on the tail end of reconstruction after another natural disaster: Haiti's 2010 earthquake. The aftermath of Hurricane Matthew is expected to worsen the country’s cholera epidemic that grew and killed thousands after the earthquake. The Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal for $6.9 million in order to help Haiti.
“Cholera is the biggest problem right now. We need clean water. The water here is so dirty,” said Haitian senator Herve Fourcand.
The Haitian people, already weakened by the 2010 earthquake, now must deal with what some are calling the greatest natural disaster to hit the country in years.
"The entire house fell on us. I couldn't get out. People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife, who had died,” said a survivor of the hurricane, Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald.
The country and its residents are dealing with tragedy, the extent of which is still fairly unknown.
“The focus right now is getting aid to these people who were affected. So they have to get in clean water, they have to get in food and shelter," Darlington said.
