Populations in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, are highly vulnerable to a variety of natural disasters, including hurricanes and earthquakes. To help communities respond more effectively to disasters, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) has developed a network of local surge capacity consultants. These USAID/OFDA-trained disaster specialists are familiar with the local context and can be activated to assist host government emergency response authorities, ground-truth disaster reports, conduct assessments, and help partners implement response activities more efficiently.
After Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti in October 2016, response actors estimated that as many as 35,000 families—approximately 175,000 people—in Grand’Anse and Sud departments whose homes were damaged or destroyed relocated to temporary shelters. USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) responded by distributing emergency shelter supplies, including plastic sheeting and shelter repair kits, to help displaced households return home quickly.
The number of food-insecure people in Haiti’s hurricane-affected areas has decreased from approximately 1 million people as of late October to an estimated 400,000 people as of late December, according to the UN World Food Program (WFP)-led Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) conducted from December 2–20. The EFSA also found a significant decline in the proportion of households adopting negative coping strategies due to food insecurity, with a 74 percent decrease in Sud Department, a 58 percent decrease in Grand’Anse Department, and a 54 percent decrease in Nippes Department.
Immediately after a disaster, access to safe drinking water is crucial to protect the health of affected populations and prevent water-borne disease outbreaks. After Category 4 Hurricane Mathew made landfall in southwestern Haiti on October 4, 2016, severely damaging water and sanitation infrastructure, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) prioritized the fast provision of safe drinking water throughout acutely affected areas.
Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm, struck the central Caribbean on October 4-6, 2016. In advance of the storm’s arrival, USAID activated a regional Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) on October 3. The DART – which at its height comprised of more than 70 people—led the U.S. humanitarian response efforts in coordination with affected governments. The majority of the U.S. response was focused on Haiti, which sustained the most damage from hurricane.
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