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TechnoratiMonsoon hits as Haiti mourns quake victims
It is a day of mourning on the island of Haiti, one month after the earthquake struck the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
In the ruins of the stately National Palace in Port-au-Prince, and in the central square which has become a giant homeless shelter, islanders remembered the 230,000 people killed in the quake.
But the estimated 1.2 million Haitians left homeless face more misery. The first rains, signalling the monsoon, arrived yesterday.
"Already last night it rained in Port-au-Prince," says Edmond Mulet, head of the UN mission in Haiti.
"You can see all over the city the effects of this. We have mud everywhere, landslides, the possibility of larger landslides – so this is very worrying. We have established some rescue teams already that will be ready to assist the population when these things happen, because we know it’s coming, we know it’s going to happen.’
Three-quarters of a million homeless people are still waiting for basic shelter, including tents and plastic tarpaulin, according to the UN.
In the capital, Port-au-Prince, where 90 per cent of the city’s buildings have been destroyed, the homeless marched in protest Thursday. Many have been left with the barest coverings against the elements, and as the rains threaten disease, they demand shelter.
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