Hurricane Matthew: Haiti Communitere prepares to aid residents of Cite Soleil, Port au Prince’s most at-risk population

A powerful hurricane is headed toward in Haiti, bringing with it a dangerous combination of torrential rains, a tidal surge, and gale-force winds up to 150 mph. With up to 40 inches of rain forecasted, landslides and flash floods are expected in Haiti – and, particularly in Port au Prince – early in the week. Hurricane Matthew is now classified as a Category 4 hurricane and is expected to hit Haiti Monday and Tuesday. The southern coast of Haiti could be hit with tides between 7 – 10 feet above normal.

Haiti Communitere and Project 509 Haiti convened an emergency meeting with community leaders and constructed a plan to prepare these communities for flooding and also to respond with supplies in the aftermath. Together they established communication leaders for each zone of Cite Soleil to receive reports of the developing storm and provide updates of the status of each zone in order to effectively respond to community needs.

Haiti Communitere will be providing matches, candles, water, and food. We are currently looking for more donations in the form of food (spaghetti, rice, mayi moulen, etc.) and tarps in conjunction with the items mentioned above.

We will be using Facebook as a means to provide updates on the development of the storm and coordinating response efforts. Please follow the progress of the storm and our efforts there.

If you have any questions, please feel free to message or call the Haiti Communitere Operations Director, Creighton Holley, at +50936766596.