Haiti - Climate : The lake Azuei, overflows, first evacuations
Since last Thursday, heavy rains continue to hit different parts of the country have already been two victims following a landslide in the Central Department. According to officials of the National Centre of Meteorology (CNM), which keep on Haiti, the orange alert level until further notice, this is due to a large area of low pressure located on the Caribbean Sea, which threatens to become a tropical depression.
Last Sunday, the lake Azuéi [Étang saumâtre], began to inundate low-lying areas, located around several villages near Thomazeau, [north-east of Port-au-Prince]. Floods of Lake Azuéi are a problem for many years. Channels of Stabilisation of the water level of the lake are blocked for a long time by waste and sediment, which combined with the deforestation of hillsides around the lake Azuéi which causes sediment in the lake, are responsible for the rise of water and floods.
Elaine Nabaa, Spokesperson of the UN, has announced that Sunday, early in the day, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations, sent a convoy of trucks and boats to evacuate more than 50 villagers. Representatives of humanitarian groups have said that about 1,000 people will probably need to be evacuated. The number of people to evacuate near Lake Azuéi could jump in the coming days, the rain not ceasing to fall along the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Nigel Fisher, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, a budget of $USD21 million. dollars was estimated for the 2011 hurricane season, including 8 million were already collected. For his part, Damian Merlo, spokesman of the President Martelly, reported on Twitter that the President visited Sunday morning the flooded areas.
