Hurricane Matthew: US Navy to take aid to Haiti

  • 11/10/2016
Men fill containers with water next to destroyed houses after Hurricane Matthew passes in Jeremie, Haiti (Reuters)
Men fill containers with water next to destroyed houses after Hurricane Matthew passes in Jeremie, Haiti (Reuters)

A US Navy warship is now bringing much needed aid to Haiti after Hurricane Matthew killed at least 1000 people on the island nation.

More than a week after Matthew rampaged across Haiti, Elise Adette still has no idea if her family is alive.

She and her three-year-old daughter have been staying with neighbours, waiting for word. 

The city of Jeremie was devastated and 80 percent of the buildings here have been damaged or destroyed.

Jeff Jeanty had nowhere to go when the storm hit and he says the storm lifted the roofs off first the house next door, then his own.

Celise Alize and her three children survived after the roof of their house collapsed in the 233 km/h winds.

She didn't have much before the storm. Now, she has even less. 

Power is still out, water and food is scare. Many roads are still impassable and the grim task of counting the dead has only begun.

The US military is trying to get much needed relief to the hardest-hit areas.

"This is an opportunity to make a difference for someone else, it's really a complex evolution where we are bringing in a lot of pieces of heavy equipment but we are bringing it in to do good," says Rear Admiral Cedric Pringle.

But the biggest fear is a return of cholera, with 39 people already being treated for the disease.

Ms Adette says after a catastrophe like this, worse things can come, people will get sick. They are exposed to cholera and fever.

CBS News