A weekend rainstorm on June 3-4 left families across Haiti mourning loved ones and displaced from their homes. On its face, the storm wasn’t catastrophic except that it struck portions of Haiti already severely vulnerable due to drought and other impacts of climate change.

FONDAMA, a Haitian group that campaigns for food security and sustainable farming, reported to the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s aid agency Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA): “It is with a heavy heart that we bring to your attention that Haiti has just been hit by heavy rain during the past weekend, which has made about 50 dead, 19 missing, 13,400 displaced and more than 37,000 affected.”

FONDAMA notes that even before the heavy rain, Haiti was facing a severe humanitarian crisis ‘fueled by gang violence, bad governance and corruption’. Indeed, ‘with nearly half of its population in need of assistance, we can clearly say that the crisis (has) taken a dimension never seen before’.

As if the storm wasn’t enough to accentuate the point, an earthquake struck the lower peninsula on June 4, killing more and leaving dozens without a home.

PDA is providing humanitarian assistance in Haiti through partners including FONDAMA, GAHDA, and APPUI AU DÉVELOPPEMENT LOCAL EN HAITI (Local Support and Development in Haiti or ADLH). It has approved solidarity grants for all three.

(Cindy Corell, Presbyterian News Service)