PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CMC )– At least 10 people were killed and four others missing as heavy rains caused widespread flooding in this Caribbean Community (Caricom) country over the past weekend.
In a statement, the interim president expressed regret at the loss of lives and the damage caused. He urged local residents to be cautious and to evacuate areas at risk, suspend maritime activities and avoid crossing rivers.
The Interior Ministry and the Civil Protection agency said that three northern provinces were severaly affected by the rains that came one month after Hurricane Matthew tore through the French-speaking Caribbean country, killing hundreds of people and causing widespread damage.
Civil Protection official Jean Henry-Petit said that nearly a foot of rain fell around the northern city of Cap-Haitien over the weekend and that seven people died in and around that city. Four others were also reported missing.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry statement said the dead include a mother and three children whose house collapsed outside Cap-Haitien.
Flooding was also reported in the southwestern department of Grand Anse that is recovering from the hurricane.
“The recorded rainfall in the night from Saturday resulted in three injured, one missing and 10 dead in the departments of Grand’Anse, Northeast and North, including seven for the commune of Cap-Haitien and among them three children,” the Civil Protection Department said in a statement.
It said that many neighbourhoods are flooded in downtown Cap-Haitien, but also in the communal section of Petite-Anse and Haut-du-Cap.