Overview:
Practically three months after Hurricane Melissa devastated Petit-Goâve, dozens of households stay homeless or dwelling in unsafe circumstances. Victims say authorities support and humanitarian help have fallen quick, leaving them struggling to rebuild and calling for pressing intervention, together with river dredging to stop future disasters.
PETIT-GOÂVE, Haiti — Practically three months after Hurricane Melissa tore by way of southern Haiti, households in Petit-Goâve— a municipality about 42 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, hardest hit by the storm— say they’ve been largely left to fend for themselves.
Many survivors stay homeless, sheltering with family members, inside church buildings or in municipal buildings, as broken houses sit uncleared and unsafe. Residents say help from the federal government and humanitarian organizations has been uneven, inadequate or nonexistent in some circumstances.
Following the devastating storm, central authorities authorities issued checks of 250,000 gourdes — about $1,900 — to households who misplaced family members, masking funeral bills and a collective burial held Nov. 15. Past that, many victims say they obtained little or no help.
“I’ve misplaced all the pieces. I’m surviving due to my family members. No authority has contacted us because the funeral.”
Adérose Poinvilus, grandmother and native meals vendor
“We’re dwelling in excessive hardship,” stated Adérose Poinvilus, 67, a mom of eight whose dwelling was almost destroyed. “I’ve misplaced all the pieces. I’m surviving due to my family members.”
Poinvilus stated floodwaters from the La Digue River destroyed a part of her home, ripping off doorways, collapsing partitions and burying rooms in rubble. She additionally misplaced the daddy of 4 of her kids, who was swept away whereas making an attempt to assist her throughout the flooding.
“Some homes had been cleared with tractors, however mine was left like this,” she stated. “I spoke on the radio many instances, however nothing modified.”
Mounds of particles and dust, flooding fears, support gaps and uneven distribution
Throughout a go to by The Haitian Occasions on Jan. 6, particles and rubbish nonetheless stuffed a number of flooded houses, whereas others had been lowered to unrecognizable foundations. Though heavy equipment partially cleared the La Digue River and close by bridge, excavated soil was piled alongside the riverbanks and on either side of the roadway.
Residents say the mounds pose a severe flood danger if heavy rains return.
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The La Digue River in Petit-Goâve is barely seen on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, after mounds of dust and piles of trash had been heaped alongside its banks following clearing work carried out since early November to facilitate passage on the roadway. Picture by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Occasions. -
One other part of the La Digue River bridge in Petit-Goâve is surrounded by trash and piles of dust on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, almost three months after flooding attributable to Hurricane Melissa. Picture by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Occasions. -
A broken part of the La Digue River bridge in Petit-Goâve is pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, the place the river is buried below mounds of dust and particles left behind by Hurricane Melissa. Picture by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Occasions.
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Residents cross the La Digue River bridge in Petit-Goâve on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, taking a look at mounds of dust left by flooding throughout Hurricane Melissa. Picture by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Occasions. -
A younger man carries a 5-gallon jug of water on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, as he crosses the La Digue River bridge in Petit-Goâve , the place passage was partially restored after flooding from Hurricane Melissa left mounds of dust within the roadway. Picture by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Occasions.
“They simply moved the dust subsequent to the homes,” stated Valière Chéry, whose mom’s dwelling was amongst these “cleared.”
“It was just for present.”
Victims at the moment are demanding pressing motion, together with dredging the river, repairing the bridge and putting in gabions to stabilize the riverbanks and forestall future disasters.
Some residents say they survived solely by way of the assistance of neighbors.
“I didn’t also have a pot to prepare dinner,” Poinvilus stated. “A neighbor gave me one.”
She stated she obtained no help past funeral help and some sheets. Others echoed comparable complaints, at the same time as humanitarian teams reported large-scale interventions.
Ali Gagaré, head of the World Meals Programme sub-office in close by Miragoâne, instructed The Haitian Occasions that the WFP assisted about 10,600 households in Petit-Goâve between early November and late December.
The help was delivered in two phases. Through the first part, 5,341 households throughout six communal sections obtained meals kits. Within the second part, 1,968 households obtained digital vouchers price 15,600 gourdes (about $120), whereas 3,291 others obtained further meals kits.
“It’s troublesome to fulfill everybody,” Gagaré stated. “However we labored to help probably the most susceptible, regardless of the top of the hurricane response interval.”
He stated the WFP coordinated its efforts with Haiti’s Civil Safety Company, the mayor’s workplace, Communal Part Administrative Council (CASEC) and neighborhood leaders.
Nonetheless, residents say distribution was poorly organized. Some households obtained a number of playing cards for support, whereas others obtained nothing. A number of victims stated shelters had been distributed to individuals whose houses weren’t destroyed.
Lives upended amid questions of accountability
Molène Clergé, 28, a shopkeeper and mom of 1, stated her home was utterly destroyed whereas she was staying with a relative.
“My home is totally destroyed. They distributed shelters, however I haven’t obtained something.”
Molène Clergé, mom of 1
“Folks got here, took my title, however I haven’t obtained something,” she stated.
Others described comparable frustrations. Phara Pierre, a mom of six, stated her 16-year-old daughter was injured whereas making an attempt to flee floodwaters with a toddler cousin, who was swept away and killed.
“My home is gone, and I obtained nothing,” Pierre stated. “I paid for hospital care myself.”
The tropical storm struck Haiti in late October, strengthening right into a Class 5 hurricane earlier than inflicting widespread destruction within the Caribbean. At the very least 43 individuals had been killed nationwide, together with 25 in Petit-Goâve, in keeping with partial authorities figures. Practically 12,000 houses had been flooded, with not less than 176 destroyed.
Residents say the catastrophe was worsened by months of inaction. The La Digue River had been clogged with embankments lengthy earlier than the storm, they stated, regardless of repeated warnings.
“Gear was right here for months, however nothing was carried out,” Chéry stated. “After the catastrophe, they cleared it in every week. This might have been averted.”
Native officers declined to remark. The CASEC for the twelfth Communal Part, Nozalito Soliman, stated he was unwilling to talk to the press. Petit-Goâve has been led by two deputy mayors, Marthe Jocelyn Noël and Paulmy Mascary, since Mayor Jean-Bertrand Subrême’s dying in December. They haven’t responded to requests for remark in regards to the scenario of the victims and their restoration plan for the realm.
For survivors like Poinvilus, frustration has become despair.
“We paid the value for his or her negligence,” she stated. “And now we’re nonetheless ready for primary assist the federal government has failed to offer.”