Haitian authorities have called on the population to be cautious in the face of tropical storm Laura, which is expected to cause heavy downpours over a large part of the country between Saturday evening and Sunday morning. “ There are starting to be small sectoral rains and a little wind. This will intensify at the end of the day, ”said Jerry Chandler, director of Haitian civil protection, at midday on Saturday. " To people who live in areas at risk, where there may be landslides and floods, be ready to evacuate if the authorities ask you to ," he recommended.
" If you are asked to move, please do not be stubborn and move: there are shelters in all areas with the minimum to meet all your needs, " added the director of the Haitian civil protection. Since Friday, Haiti has been on orange alert against the risk of bad weather caused by tropical storm Laura, the winds of which strengthened during its passage south of Puerto Rico on Saturday morning.
Cabotage operations, i.e. short trips from port to port along the coasts, have been banned by the Haitian authorities until further notice.
One time
If the virulence of Covid-19 has been relatively low in Haiti, with 8,050 cases tested positive and 196 deaths officially attributed to the virus, the Haitian authorities want to prevent a possible spread of the epidemic on the sidelines of natural disasters such as storm Laura.
“ Put on your masks and respect the distances, especially in temporary shelters. With the Covid, we have considerably less reception capacity , ”said Audain Fils Bernadel, Minister of the Interior, during a press briefing by the authorities.
Every year, from June to November, Haiti is under the threat of cyclones, but heavy downpours are enough to threaten the lives of the most disadvantaged citizens, forced to live in areas at risk, near canals or gullies clogged with waste.
Laura could intensify off Florida early next week, after passing Cuba and the Bahamas, according to the U.S. Cyclone Prevention Center, and there is a risk that another storm, called Marco, could enter the sea. zoned. It would be the first time in history that two tropical storms would be in the Gulf at the same time, but the Center warns that such long-range forecasts are unreliable.
amb / iba / avz