By Tyler Durden
Tens of thousands of Haitians are scrambling to find shelter Monday as a tropical storm threatens to unleash flash floods and mudslides in the area struck by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Saturday.
Tropical Depression Grace is quickly approaching Haiti and the Dominican Republic with sustained winds around 35 mph. The storm is expected to impact Haiti later today and dump as much as 15 inches of rain through Tuesday.
Back-to-back natural disasters are complicating relief efforts for Haiti’s civil protection agency. The quake has killed more than 1,300 people and injured thousands. Some reports indicate 14,000 homes were destroyed, and another 14,000 were damaged. There was also significant damage to infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and government buildings.
Haitian Twitter users posted urgent pleas for help ahead of the tropical system.
“We need to get the people affected by the earthquake tents ASAP,” tweeted political activist Kinsley Jean. “A tropical storm is coming and most of them are sleeping outside.”
The destruction of building structures and infrastructure has complicated search and rescue efforts and made it difficult for supplies to reach the affected areas.
A humanitarian catastrophe in Haiti appears to be underway. We wonder if former President Clinton and his Clinton Foundation Haiti Fund will raise money this time around?
Besides Grace, Tropical Storm Fred is nearing the Florida Panhandle and Invest 96L, located northeast of Bermuda, continues to become more organized.
