Cash-strapped Caribbean recovers
from deadly Storm Laura
By Andre Paultre & Sarah
Marsh
PORT-AU-PRINCE/HAVANA
(Reuters) – Caribbean islands
already reeling from the economic
impact of coronavirus
started recovering on Tuesday
from the damage wrought by
Tropical Storm Laura, which
left at least 24 dead and damaged
thousands of homes and
electricity infrastructure.
Brigades of workers were
out fixing toppled power poles,
removing fallen trees blocking
roads and repairing roofs after
the storm blustered through
the region’s largest countries.
– Laura has become a hurricane
since exiting Cuba on its
northwestern path towards the
United States.
Laura caused the most damage
in Haiti, where preparedness
is weak while deforestation
has left the country vulnerable
to flooding and landslides when
there are heavy rains.
Torrents of water carrying
rocks down from the mountains
barreled through a marketplace
in a ravine of Port-au-
Prince before dawn on Sunday,
including the warehouses
where many vendors were
sleeping.
“I came here straight away
only to find my mother dead,”
said Lorius Joseph, 38, heaving
and struggling to talk in front
of her corpse. “She used to sell
pork bits on the market.”
Caribbean Life, A 6 ug. 28-Sept. 3, 2020
After the rains subsided,
vendors scoured the mud for
merchandise like vegetables
and eggs.
At least 21 people were
killed in total, mainly from
flash flooding that turned the
capital’s roads into raging rivers,
and 198 families were left
homeless, according to the
Haitian Civil Protection Office.
Five people were still missing
on Tuesday, including a
woman whose baby was already
found dead after their car got
stuck in flooding.
Locals fear Laura is just a
small preview of what is to
come, with the hurricane season
typically peaking in September.
The Caribbean has experienced
four Category 5 hurricanes
at the top of the fivestep
Saffir-Simpson wind scale
in the last four years, including
Hurricane Matthew which
killed more than 500 in Haiti.
Some scientists say hurricane
season is becoming more
intense due to warming seas
in the wake of climate change
Residents walk along a street affected by the passage
of Tropical Storm Laura, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Aug. 25,
2020. REUTERS / Andres Martinez Casares
and forecasters have predicted
a particularly active one this
year.
The impact too is more
severe due to stretched
resources in a region particularly
affected by the collapse
of tourism in the wake of the
coronavirus pandemic, with
50-90% of GDP and employment
in some islands depending
on the sector.
A man takes mud out of a
store affected by the passage
of Tropical Storm Laura,
in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
Aug. 25, 2020. REUTERS /
Andres Martinez Casares
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