Five killed, 19 missing in Haiti floods

Five people were killed and at least 19 are missing following heavy rains that battered  sections of the country earlier this week.

Officials in the Department of Civil Protection on Thursday reported that a 17-year-old girl and a 24-year-old woman died in Port-de Paix in the northwest of the county while attempting to cross raging waters.

In  incidents elsewhere, a 49-year-old man , a woman and a child were all killed when they also attempted to cross raging waters.

The coastal Grande-Anse region of southern Haiti was hardest hit, with more than 300 people seeking shelter from the rising waters.

In the aftermath of the rains, 19 fishermen from two towns in the area are reported missing.

Haiti has been grappling with a heavy rainy season this year, particularly so in its vulnerability after the devastation from Category-4 Hurricane Matthew, which tore into the country last October .

The heavy rains have also had an impact on Jamaica where flooding triggered landslides and damaged infrastructure across the island.

http://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/news/torrential-rain-floods-haiti/