AJWS Hurricane Matthew Situation Update, October 7, 2016
Three days after the hurricane made landfall in southwestern Haiti as a category 4 storm, the strongest
to hit the island of Hispaniola since 1964, the extent of the destruction is only just becoming apparent.
The death toll shot upin 24 hours in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and the number of people
missing remains unclear. It was only on Thursday that the main airport reopened, and we began to see
the first aerial photographs of the hardest hit areas.
Hundreds of thousands of people are in need of shelter, food and water. In places like Jeremie, Nippes
and Les Cayes, 100% of homes with tin roofs have been destroyed. The United Nations Office of
Humanitarian Affairs reports that nearly half of million people are in need of immediate assistance on
the island. 80% of the harvest is lost in the south. As of today, more than 400 people have died in Haiti
and the death toll is likely to increase. Cell towers are down and most people do not have power which
is making communication difficult and information slow-coming. In the Dominican Republic, the bateys
and barrios which house many Dominicans of Haitian Descent (DoHD) are nearly inaccessible and are
filled with flood waters.
The figures for death and damage will likely rise further, as international aid groups and government
agencies reach the worst-affected areas in the south. As entire villages have been washed away,
communities are in shock. Thankfully, Port au Prince has been spared from the worst of the impacts of
the hurricane but civil society is increasingly nervous about how incoming in-kind aid will impact an
already damaged election process and an incredibly weak economy.
AJWS Partner Updates:
We are continuing to reach out to our core partners to understand the impact this hurricane has had on
their work and their communities, and to assess immediate and long-term needs. AJWS staff will arrive
in Haiti on Saturdaymorning and will drive to assess needs in the southern region first.
Here are some updates from our partners thus far:

• The town of Les Cayes is in total shock The radio station has reported extensive 
damage and can no longer function. Almost all of the residents have lost their homes 
and they experienced 7 straight hours of hurricane force winds. Psychosocial support 
will be needed in the coming months.     
• There is serious flood damage to the border communities border area between 
Haiti and the Dominican Republic where many Haitians recently forced out of the 
Dominican Republic reside in precarious conditions. There is an immediate need for 
food, shelter and water. 
• There is extensive damage throughout Haitian communities, including destroyed 
houses, mass flooding, widespread loss of agriculture and livestock, as well as many 
people who remain unaccounted for. 
• Most of the communities in the outskirts of Santo Dominico are flooded and some 
remain completely inaccessible and all access roads were flooded. 
• There is mass flooding and mudslides in the communities in the North-west region. 
• There is widespread damage to community radio infrastructure throughout Haiti. 
Radio stations are critical in the social movement’s strategy to increase political 
participation and ensure election observation, and in sharing prevention information 
about cholera, which is of great concern in the aftermath of the cyclone. 
• The island of Ile a Vache off the south of Haiti has been impacted in terms of 
extensive damage and loss of farms and fishing boats. Thankfully none are seriously 
injured. The island remains totally cut off. Homes have been washed out to sea and 
families are trying to obtain updates on missing people. 

 AJWS’s approach to Hurricane Matthew Response:
The Disaster Response team is still assessing damage to our core partners, however our response
strategy is beginning to take shape. While communication with the southern and northern region is
likely to remain complicated by a lack of power and cell phone reception, alternative transportation
routes are opening and our Haiti team will travel to the hardest hit regions in the next 48 hours.
Most of the first-responder organizations will focus on food, shelter and clean water. In terms
of AJWS’s immediate response, we will focus on serving the communities which often do not have
access to long-term humanitarian assistance such as the displaced Dominicans of Haitian Descent
along the border.
While assessments will be done in the coming weeks, we believe our grants will focus on the following:

1.
Rebuilding of infrastructure for partners who have reported damage; 
2.
Support to affected communities along the border of the DR and Haiti, and to 
affected communities in the DR with large populations of Dominicans of Haitian 
Descent; 
3.
Livelihood and water-borne disease prevention support to hardest hit 
communities in les Cayes, Grand-Anse, Jeremie, Gonaive, and Il a Vache. 
Our main long-term priority is to enable civil society organizations to be resilient, and jump back into
the important work they were doing to prepare the Haitians for upcoming critical presidential elections.
In an environment in which international aid is controversial, and is seen to only weaken Haiti’s efforts
to establish autonomy and accountability, AJWS seeks to advocate for all aid organizations to work
directly with Haitian national and local organizations – to give flexible support and to promote
sustainable rebuilding and prevention work. In order to do so, we will prioritize support to our current
partner organizations that are well-established in their communities and will be able to identify the
needs of the most acutely affected.

Tim Lessick, Communications Project Manager
American Jewish World Service
45 West 36th Street, New York, NY 10018
212.792.2846 www.ajws.org   facebook   twitter