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Haiti - Heavy Rains | Population Exposure Analysis, April 2017

Countries
Haiti
Sources
UNOSAT
Publication date
Origin
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Situation Overview

Extreme rains falling in Sud Department of Haiti, from the 20 th to the 23 rd of April, 2017, have resulted in flash floods. Many areas that are still recovering from the devastation left by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 have been affected as well as some areas in Jamaica and Cuba.
According to the Directorate of Civil Protection (DCP) in Haiti, 2 fatalities occurred in Port-Salut and Camp Perrin. Due to the rise of waters on the coast and in places inside the towns, evacuations have carried out in Port Salut where around 5,000 households were reportedly affected and in Maniche, where around 50 families have been displaced in temporary shelters in the national schools of Melon and Dory. Severe flooding was also reported in the city of Les Cayes.

In the coastal zone, traffic is interrupted due to the collapse of the Port Salut Bridge that connects the rest of the coast and the affection of some sections of roads particularly at Arniquet, Port Salut, Port a Piment and Saint Jean du Sud. Damage to agricultural and livestock have been also reported over areas already previously affected by Hurricane Matthew early October 2016 (FloodList).

This report provides a population per precipitation accumulation zone analysis over Haiti. The analysis was conducted according to the estimated precipitation accumulation data derived from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) dataset of the last five days (20 th to the 24 th of April, 2017) at a spatial resolution of approximately 10km. The population data was derived from WorldPop.

According to our analysis precipitation levels over the last five days reached over 280 mm, which exceeds average precipitation levels of 131.9 mm according to The World Bank Group. Approximately 600,000 people in Haiti may be exposed to over 250 mm of precipitation and 5,500,000 people may be exposed to precipitation anomalies, values of precipitation above 150 mm, over the last five days.
The Sud Department is the one most affected by the precipitations with approximately 300,000 people may be exposed to over 250 mm of precipitation, followed by the Sud-Est Department.