[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

                                 ______
                                 

                         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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