Haiti, Florida
A relief flight carrying medicine and relief supplies from Americares arrives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 6, 2016.
Stamford, Conn. – Oct. 6, 2016 – An Americares shipment of medicine and supplies arrived in Haiti this afternoon where Hurricane Matthew has left 350,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance. The supplies are destined for the Hope for Haiti clinic in Les Cayes, one of the most devastated areas. As the storm makes its way toward the U.S., another Americares Emergency Response team has arrived in Florida, pre-positioned to assess needs and quickly offer assistance once the storm makes landfall.
Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti’s southern coast as a Category 4 storm on Tuesday, killing more than 100 people, flooding roads and tearing roofs off homes and businesses. Downed trees and closed roads and bridges have impeded response teams from moving south toward the devastation until today.
“Our staff has just arrived in the hardest hit areas and we are only now beginning to understand the scale of the damage and the need,” said Americares Vice President of Emergency Response Garrett Ingoglia, who is in Haiti. “We will work closely with local organizations in Haiti and Florida to meet survivors’ most urgent health needs.”
In the U.S., Americares has been in contact with more than 100 partner health clinics in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina to speed delivery of medicine and supplies after the storm hits. Two million people are under mandatory evacuation in the southern U.S.
In Haiti, Americares staff in Port-au-Prince will coordinate future shipments of aid, which will include intravenous fluids to treat cholera and medical supplies to treat storm-related injuries. In the coming days Americares plans to deliver approximately $1.6 million in aid for Hurricane Matthew survivors in Haiti.
Americares has professional relief workers ready to respond to disasters at a moment’s notice and stocks emergency medicine and supplies in its warehouses in the U.S., Europe and India that can be delivered quickly in times of crisis. The organization responds to an average of 30 natural disasters and humanitarian crises worldwide each year, establishes long-term recovery projects and brings disaster preparedness programs to vulnerable communities.
Donations to Americares Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund will support its response in Haiti and the U.S.