On October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The Category 4 storm battered the small island with 230 kph winds, 10-foot storm surges and torrential rains. Over 1.4 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance. As families were unable to find safe drinking water a major cholera outbreak occurred with thousands of cases being reported. There was a dire need for clean drinking water solutions throughout the affected areas.
2,100,000 PEOPLE AFFECTED
1000 PEOPLE KILLED
200,000 HOMES DAMAGED
GlobalMedic deployed the Rapid Response Team, who arrived in-country on October 6 less than 48 hours after Hurricane Matthew struck the island. The RRT immediately implemented our Emergency Water Program, serving thousands each day with clean drinking water in communities across the Sud department. These communities included Les Cayes, Roche-à-Bateau, Maniche, Arniquet, and Torbeck.
GlobalMedic deployed 5 AquaResponse3 and 2 AquaResponse10 Water Purification Systems in the initial phase of our response. RRT members carried the systems into the country and were able to put them to use right away, purifying water for 35,000 people each day.
The team also worked to distribute 288,000 Aquatab Water Purification Tablets, each tablet capable of purifying 10 litres of water, providing an instant source of clean water for affected communities.
Volunteers in Canada assembled nearly 2,250 Family Emergency Kits which were send by air to the RRT base in Haiti. Each FEK contained a Rainfresh Household Water Purification unit which can provide a family with a source of clean drinking water for up to one year. Hygiene items were also included in each kit to provide urgently needed assistance stopping the spread of communicable diseases. An additional 3,900 Rainfresh Household Water Purification units were distributed without hygiene kits.
A final 500 Family Emergency Kits were distributed by our RRT in order to continue preventing the harmful spread of cholera seen after the storm. These kits contained P&G Purifier of Water Sachets, hygiene items and a Lucky Iron Fish to help prevent anemia.
More than 100,000 people were supported during this response, including many in areas which remained isolated by damage from the storm for up to a month after it hit. GlobalMedic Partnered with WFP and ADRA to send in aid by helicopter to the village of Beauclos which remained cut off by the damage from Hurricane Matthew until late October. Our advance team hiked through the damage to identify an appropriate landing zone for the helicopter.
