Widespread flooding in Haiti following heavy rains

There are reports that three people were killed, more than 2,500 houses damaged, and crops destroyed in Haiti Tuesday following floods caused by the passage of a cold front on Monday.

Berla Severin, of Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency, says one person was also reported missing.

Damage was also reported in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

The Civil Protection Agency said in its partial assessment that nearly 20 communes in the departments of the North, Northeast and Nippes were affected by the rains that caused 2,578 houses to be affected by floods and destroyed three. It said nearly 2,500 families are in need of temporary shelter following more than 36 hours of rainfall that caused several rivers to overflow their banks. In Cap-Haitien, several neighborhoods near the Haut du Cap River were flooded with the authorities saying part of the historic city center was also flooded. They said trees were uprooted by wind gusts. In the North-East, the Caracol power plant is under water, while in the Nippes department, volunteers from the Baradères communal civil protection committee have identified 153 flooded houses in the city center. The General Directorate of Civil Protection is urging people in flood-prone areas and exposed to strong winds to take precaution to protect themselves and their loved ones and, above all, not to cross flooded rivers under any circumstances. The floods follow two earthquakes that occurred on Monday, January 24, measuring 5.1 and 5.3 in magnitude. Two people were killed and several were injured. CMC/