Cholera Stalks Haiti as Hurricane Fears Blow Away

The rain and wind from Hurricane Tomas largely spared Haiti. The United Nations reports 21 deaths and 1,004 homes destroyed. Most roads remained undamaged and the number of people impacted by the storm as reported by USAID is less than 500,000.

Helicopters from the USS Iwo Jima have been conducting surveys since November 6 and have found little damage. U.S. Coast Guard aircraft have seen some road blockages and UN troops have been dispatched to make repairs. Flooding continues in the Artibonite department while in Grand Anse most of the farms were destroyed. Many of Haiti's coastal villages lost fishing boats or related infrastructure.

Iwo Jima departs Haiti November 9. The Coast Guard is also resuming normal operations in the area.

Cholera remains a major concern. As of November 9, the UN is reporting 544 deaths and 8,138 hospitalizations due to the disease. The flooding, while not as heavy as predicted, has still caused latrines, canals and rivers to overflow and spread the potential for infection. The Wall Street Journal says it has learned of over 100 cases in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

Agencies working in the over 1,300 refugee camps in Haiti are attempting to educate the population to wash their hands and to only drink and cook with bottled water. With many camps still without effective management, sanitation and hygiene efforts are limited. 1.3 million Haitians are living in camps and are at high risk for many illnesses due to their living conditions.

One of the outgrowths of the aid effort following the January earthquake is a website tracking illness in Haiti. Haiti: Operational Biosurveillance is reporting more cholera cases than the official channels. They are also reporting that cholera may have crossed the border into the Dominican Republic.

The international aid community and the Haitian government are using a website titled Haiti: Humanitarian Response to share information about the earthquake recover, Hurricane Tomas and the cholera epidemic.