[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1668-E1669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HAITI NEEDS HELP FROM THE UNITED STATES--NOW
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HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK
of florida
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a human
crisis of the highest magnitude. It demands a strong, unequivocal and
immediate response from the international community and particularly
from the United States.
The latest storm struck Gonaives on Saturday. So far, the only aid
from the Bush Administration has been $60,000 in relief assistance.
This is just a drop in the bucket compared to the desperate need of the
Haitian people. It is wholly inadequate. The Bush Administration needs
to exercise leadership in coordinating immediate assistance from our
own country and the international community.
While the Bush Administration is watching the development of this
disaster and assessing what its response will be, thousands of Haitians
are suffering. This situation demands an immediate emergency response
from the United States Government.
As reported in these Miami Herald and the New York Times articles,
nearly 700 lives have been lost in Haiti because of the flooding and
mudslides triggered by Tropical Storm Jeanne. Already the poorest
nation in the Western Hemisphere, this new crisis has made conditions
in Haiti even worse. And the desperate situation that Haiti faces today
because of this disaster comes on top of the catastrophic floods only 4
months ago with over 3,000 Haitians killed, missing, or presumed dead.
The press has reported widespread human suffering in Haiti, with
unburied bodies in the streets; hospitals and hospital equipment
rendered unusable because of water and mud, grave shortages of fresh
water, food and antibiotics, a very real threat of public health
epidemics, and thousands without even rudimentary shelter.
The government of Haiti is totally unequipped and unable to deal with
this massive crisis, because they have neither the resources nor the
organization. Private voluntary groups are reportedly overwhelmed by
the enormity of this crisis.
Given the gravity of this situation, in which thousands of Haitian
lives hang in the balance, I call upon President Bush to immediately
send significant U.S. emergency assistance to Haiti in the form of
food, medicine, fresh water, clothing, and emergency shelter, and to
immediately coordinate, with the international community, the manpower,
transportation and distribution of these needed commodities to provide
immediate relief to the people of Gonaives and the surrounding
countryside.
We know from the storm damage in our own country that fast action is
imperative in natural disasters; Haiti's poverty and the size and scope
of the disaster there makes the need for speed even greater.
If ever there was a time when the people of Haiti need the help and
support of the United States Government, it is now. I urge President
Bush not to delay this aid any further, but to act immediately.
[From the Miami Herald, Herald.com, September 21, 2004]
Storm Floods Kill More Than 600 in Haiti
(By Amy Bracken)
Gonaives, Haiti--.Rescuers dug through mud and ruined homes
for bodies Tuesday, expecting the death toll of more than 600
from Tropical Storm Jeanne to rise even further, with half
the crowded northern city of Gonaives still under water from
the weekend's devastating winds and rain.
Gonaives was hardest hit in the latest tragedy to beset
Haiti in a year of revolts, military interventions and
devastating floods. Bodies, including many children, were
stacked at the city's main morgue, where weeping relatives
searched for loved ones.
At least 500 people were killed in the city, according to
Toussaint Kongo-Doudou, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping
mission in Haiti.
``I lost my kids and there's nothing I can do,'' said Jean
Estimable, whose 2-year-old daughter was killed and another
of his five children was missing and presumed dead.
``All I have is complete despair and the clothes I'm
wearing,'' he said Monday, pointing to a floral dress and
ripped pants borrowed from a neighbor.
Floods are particularly damaging in Haiti, the poorest
country in the Americas, because it is almost completely
deforested, leaving few roots to hold back rushing waters or
mudslides. Most of the trees have been chopped down to make
charcoal for cooking.
Aid workers were struggling to get relief to victims amid
worries over looting and crime, said Hans Havik from the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies.
``Security is little bit tense. We have to be careful with
bringing in the materials because we risk looting,'' Havik
said.
Three trucks carrying Red Cross relief supplies rolled into
Gonaives Monday, but before they could reach their
destination at the mayor's office, two of them were mobbed by
people who grabbed blankets and towels. U.N. troops stood by
watching.
People tripped over each other to grab tiny bags of water
thrown from a Red Cross truck in front of City Hall, where
officials said about 500 injured were treated Monday.
Dieufort Deslorges, a spokesman for the government civil
protection agency, described the situation in Gonaives as
``catastrophic.'' He said survivors need everything from
potable water to food, clothing, medication and
disinfectants.
``We expect to find dozens more bodies, especially in
Gonaives, as . . . floodwaters recede,'' Deslorges said.
Floodwaters destroyed homes and crops in the Artibonite
region that is Haiti's breadbasket.
``Everyone is desperate,'' said Pelissier Heber of the
Artibonite Chamber of Commerce.
Elsewhere, 56 people were killed in northern Port-de-Paix
and 17 died in the nearby town of Terre Neuve, officials
said. Deslorges of the civil protection agency reported
another 49 bodies recovered in other villages and towns, most
in the northwest.
[[Page E1669]]
Although there were fears of many more dead on La Tortue
island, Deslorges said: ``The government has been in contact
with officials on La Tortue. Nothing happened there.''
Jeanne lashed Haiti on Saturday, four months after
devastating floods along the southern border of Haiti and
neighboring Dominican Republic. Some 1,700 bodies were
recovered and 1,600 more were missing and presumed dead.
Gonaives, a city of about a quarter million people, also
suffered fighting during the February rebellion that led to
the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and left an
estimated 300 dead.
All this in a year supposed to be dedicated to celebrating
the 200th anniversary of the country's independence from
France. Haiti, the only country to launch a successful
rebellion against slavery, was the world's first black
republic.
Jeanne regained hurricane strength over the Atlantic on
Monday but posed no immediate threat to land. At 5 a.m.
Tuesday, it was moving east-northeast with 90 mph winds,
about 445 miles east of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas.
The storm entered the Caribbean last week, killing seven
people in Puerto Rico before heading to the Dominican
Republic where it killed at least 18. The overall death toll
from Jeanne stands at 647, 622 of them in Haiti.
Waterlines up to 10 feet high showed the passage of the
storm waters, which turned some roads into fast-flowing
rivers.
Argentine troops who are among more than 3,000 U.N.
peacekeepers in Haiti treated at least 150 people injured by
the floods in Gonaives, mostly for cuts on feet and legs.
One man stood outside the flooded base used by Argentine
troops, asking soldiers to remove 11 bodies that were
floating in his house, including four brothers and a sister.
``I would like to see if the soldiers could do something
about these bodies,'' said Jean-Saint Manus, a 30-year-old
student. ``The door was closed. Everybody was trapped
inside.''
He said he had been outside and could only get in once the
floods subsided.
Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue toured flooded areas
Sunday and declared Gonaives a disaster area, calling for
aid. The U.S. Embassy announced $60,000 in immediate relief.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Karl and Tropical Storm Lisa remained
far out in the Atlantic. Karl's sustained winds were 140 mph,
making it a Category 4 hurricane. Lisa had winds of 60 mph.
[From the New York Times, nytimes.com, Sept. 21, 2004]
Death Toll Nears 700 From Haiti Flooding
(By Reuters)
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Reuters).--The death toll in Haiti
from flooding and mudslides triggered by Tropical Storm
Jeanne rose above 660 on Tuesday and government officials
were still struggling to reach areas cut off by flood waters.
The storm swept north of Haiti during the weekend,
drenching the impoverished Caribbean nation, inundating
cities and sending deadly mudslides through towns and
villages.
Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who declared three
days of national mourning for the victims, planned to visit
some of the hardest hit areas on Tuesday.
The government put the death toll from the floods at 662
people and expected the total to rise as relief workers
recovered bodies and reached areas isolated by the now
receding water.
The known toll included 550 deaths in the coastal city of
Gonaives, 65 in Haiti's Northwest province and 47 in other
towns.
``There's not one house in Gonaives that has not been
affected,'' Latortue said before leaving Port-au-Prince to
tour the city. Officials estimated half of the 200,000
residents needed immediate assistance with shelter, water and
food.
The city is the birthplace of Haiti's independence from
France 200 years ago and it was where an armed revolt began
that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
earlier this year.
Latortue's entourage hoped to land on the island of La
Tortue off Haiti's north coast to assess damage there. U.N.
workers said on Monday it was barely visible beneath the
flood waters and rescue workers have been unable to reach it.
U.N. peacekeeping forces sent to stabilize Haiti after
Aristide's departure were helping with rescue efforts and
providing transportation for relief shipments.
Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, is frequently
inundated by flash floods and mudslides because of extensive
deforestation. Around 2,000 Haitians died when extensive
floods washed away villages near the Dominican-Haitian border
in May.
Tropical Storm Jeanne also killed 11 people in the
Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola
with Haiti, and two in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
The storm meandered in the Atlantic about 445 miles east-
northeast of the Bahamas' Great Abaco Island on Tuesday but
posed no immediate threat to land, forecasters at the U.S.
National Hurricane Center said.
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