Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is responding to Hurricane Noel that moved across the Caribbean as a slow-moving tropical storm before growing into a Category-1 hurricane. The storm dumped rain on the Bahamas and Cuba and forced some 24,000 evacuations in Cuba alone. On October 29, 2007, the storm struck Hispanolia (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) where 116 people were killed in floods and landslides.

In the Dominican Republic, the rain brought floods and strong winds that took the country by surprise as no one had expected the high levels of rainfall that caused widespread damage, from Santo Domingo on the south coast to Puerto Plata on the north coast, along the western stretches of the country.

Noel hit in an especially vulnerable period in Haiti as Haiti had already suffered extremes from Hurricane Dean in August 2007, and unusually heavy rains and flooding had affected the country in the first weeks of October.

PDA is supporting the work of Social Service of the Dominican Churches (SSID) and Grupo de Pastores Interdenominacionalis (GPI) in cooperation with Church World Service and members of the ACT Alliance in the Dominican Republic.

Impoverished bateyes — sugar cane worker communities — in eastern Dominican Republic are among those hard-hit by the storm. Sugar cane workers, the majority of whom are Haitians or Dominicans of Haitian descent, face discrimination and are among the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable.

GPI is providing beans, oil, canned fish, sugar, rice and locally-purchased hygiene items that include soap and toothpaste to about 700 people in 15 bateyes in the eastern Dominican Republic not far from the border with Haiti. Bed sheets and drinking water are also being provided.

SSID is supporting about 2500 people from 20 communities with food, bottled water, bedding and basic medicines in the southwest region (San Juan Barahona) and eastern region (Monte Plata). These communities are within the most affected areas and its people are among the most vulnerable communities.

In Haiti, the most severely affected areas are in the south and southeast. Bridges and roads have been destroyed and in some cases access is only possible by air.

The ACT forum in Haiti is completing a preliminary assessment of the situation and ACT members have been in contact with their partners by phone in order to gather information on the extent of the damage. Assessments were done in various parts of Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (in the west), an area hard hit, and the assessment team visited schools where people had taken refuge. The ACT Forum members are considering issuing an appeal to help with the response.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance will also work with our partner, Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) in this response. MPP, a Presbyterian Hunger Program partner, has been working in the Central Plateau and was very involved in responding to previous flooding in Gonaives, Haiti from 2004’s Hurricane Jeanne.