J/P Haitian Relief Organization

OUR PROGRESS

PETIONVILLE CAMP FACES EXTREME WEATHER  IN HAITI

On September 24th, a sudden and violent storm raged through Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The highest intensity levels hit the J/P Haitian Relief Organization’s camp in Petionville, significantly damaging portions of the organization’s infrastructure.

However, due to diligent emergency preparedness by J/P HRO with the support of the United States Army’s Southern Command in the months following the earthquake, internally displaced persons at Petionville, once designated the “most susceptible topography to flood and mudslide,” remained remarkably safe with few minor injuries.

Due to heavy winds and rain, J/P HRO lost an office and living space (tents) for J/P HRO staff and volunteers. Also destroyed in the storm was a hospital, pharmacy and many medical supplies.

J/P HRO staff and volunteers worked through the night to relocate the hospital and patients to a nearby gym at the Petionville Club. Within minutes of relocating, J/P HRO responders were receiving patients and dispatched a nurse and midwife to deliver a baby in a makeshift obstetrics ward. The early estimated damage to replace the infrastructure lost to J/P HRO in the storm is approximately $350,000.

Despite the setback from the storm, J/P HRO staffers continue to provide medical support and services for the 50,000 IDPs living in the Petionville camp under J/P HRO management. Other camps in Port-au-Prince and across the country did not weather the storm as effectively, as at least five fatalities have been reported and major flooding continue to devastate the region.

In recent weeks, J/P HRO and its heavy equipment wing have continued relocations into hard shelters in the Delmas 32 area where they have focused their highly successful rubble removal project. The relocations established by J/P HRO came under fire recently by Jean-Christophe Adrian, country manager for the United Nations Human Settlements Program, who told the Miami Herald that J/P HRO and U.S. Military were “completely wrong in evaluating the risks.”

In fact, in the wake of the storm, J/P HRO’s precautions very likely saved lives in the Petionville camp and certainly mitigated what could have been far worse damage.

“It has been a very difficult 24 hours for our team and the community they serve in Petionville, but they have weathered this storm with courage, and continue to perform heroic and vital services for the people of Haiti, even under the most dire of conditions,” said Sean Penn, founder of J/P HRO. “The combined efforts of J/P HRO and the U.S. Military dramatically minimized harm and damage to PAPS largest tent camp of internally displaced persons. Drainage mitigation and relocations that had been previously criticized by some U.N. organizations proved their value today. We have been shouting for months about the severity of the hurricane season, and last night underscores the importance for the need of sustained and smart support in the region.”

J/P Haitian Relief Organization is asking friends and supporters to help rebuild the lost infrastructure and to continue their efforts in Haiti. To donate, click here.