In Haiti, the rainy season runs officially from May to July and coincides with hurricane season in the Caribbean, which runs from June to November. However, this year in Haiti the rains came early.

Early flooding

In March, 11 people died and 1,584 families lost their houses due to flooding in various localities across the country. It's a sign of Haiti's vulnerability that this could happen after "only" four days of moderate to heavy rainfall due to a cold weather front. The Haitian government made funds available to the Civil Protection Department to help victims. MINUSTAH (UN Mission in Haiti) also gave support to improve access in areas where road conditions made them inaccessible by car.

Impact on Concern's work

None of Concern's project areas were affected and national authorities did not call for a general mobilisation, meaning that they felt local agencies were able to manage with some help from the government and the UN.

Disaster response

Concern Haiti has, as part of its Disaster Risk Reduction programme, a depot with emergency supplies and kits which will be distributed in the case of an emergency. Concern has two types of kit: kitchen kits, which contain kitchen/cooking utensils, pots, dishes and cutlery; and hygiene kits, which contain basins, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and buckets. Each kit caters for a family of five. Concern also provides plastic sheeting, blankets and linen when necessary.