[IMG: Hurricane Georges making landfall on the Dominican Republic September 22, 1998; Credit: Dennis Chesters, Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, Craig Mayhew, and Hal Pierce, Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The Caribbean Hurricane Page

Updates from the Islands
Georges - Haiti
http://www.gobeach.com/hurr.htm


If you are looking for family/friends on Haiti, you can post your plea for help on the Hispaniola Lost & Found Bulletin Board. For people who have been in contact with Haiti, or live on Haiti, please, also take a look at this Bulletin Board and try to see if you can help out these sometimes desparate people...

Michele Wucker pointed me to the following press-release. Way to go AA! -Gert

|         MIAMI, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- During October American Airlines and
|     American Eagle are offering special low-cost relief fares to allow friends and
|     family to fly between the U.S. mainland and areas in Puerto Rico, the
|     Dominican Republic, Haiti and other islands hard-hit by Hurricane Georges.
|
|     click here for full story.


Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 20:27:02 EDT From: Surfside01@aol.com Subject: Surfside Assists Haiti Hurricane Victims Information about Surfside's effort to get help to Haitian communities is available; send fax your request to 305-865-2541 or 305-948-9077. General information about Team Surfside and its prior efforts to support and assist Haiti is on line at http://town.surfside.fl.us/special.html
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 18:55:37 EDT From: HISUSER@aol.com Subject: South Part Of Haiti (Plaine de Torbeck) Yesterday, I spoke on the phone directly from Haiti with an elected official from the flat land of Torbeck, in southern Haiti. This official informed me that the elected mayor of Torbeck reported that the heavy rain from hurricane George causes heavy flood in the area resulting in lost of some of the main Haitian crops such as rice and plantain. Haitian consumes tons of rice and plantain every day.
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 16:32:39 -0500 From: gloria wolfe (gjwolfe@seidata.com) Subject: Port de Paix, Haiti We have had news that Sonlight Academy in Port de Paix, Haiti suffered no damage during hurricane Georges. They said they were protected by the mountains and it was more like "a regular storm". Thank you for your informational pages, Gert.
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 23:29:47 -0400 From: Kelly C Ward (PKWard6@compuserve.com) Subject: Haiti-PAP Hi, I spoke with a missionary in Bon Repate, outside out Port au Prince last night and she said that Port au Prince actually faired well in the hurricane. The major problem, as noted in previous posts, is flooding. She has off and on electric, which is normal for Haiti anyway and obviously a working phone line. I have also been in contact with a missionary in the Petionville area and all seems to be well there also. I am wanting to know if anyone has any information about Mont Rouis, just north of Port au Prince. Our missionary friend had not been there since the hurricane. The birth family of our daughter's live there and we would like to find out any information. Thanks. Kelly
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 23:01:53, -0500 From: ROBERT B BIRD MD (SKJW25A@prodigy.com) Subject: Re: Port au Prince My friend* reports she saw no damage in the major Haiti area. There was minimal loss of power, phones and TV. The stores were boarded to prevent looting. No apparent damage at the airport. They experienced heavy rain but nothing else. She did not know about any other parts of the country. * Who works at the embassy in Port au Prince. -Gert
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 18:06:56 +0100 From: Laurence Graham (mwenakou@iol.ie) Subject: Re: Hurricane Georges in Haiti Hi Gert, I have just heard again from my friends in Haiti. Here follows what they said. "Dear friends, Just a quick note to let you know we are o.k. We went to spend the night at Meg's as a precaution, but it was only heavy rains, not much wind here by the ocean. The south suffered a little more, and also La Gonave and the Northwest, but not as much as our neighbors, the Dominicans. About relatives of little Philosca, we don't think they were affected much, since they are far from the sea, and that area didn't get a lot of wind or water. " You're doing a great job. At times like this its Florida etc that gets most of the attention and the Caribbean is passed over. I lived for a while in Haiti and Antigua. I haven't heard from Antigua. Don't know anyone there with E Mail. Best wishes, Laurence (in Ireland)
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 10:30:39 +0100 From: Laurence Graham (mwenakou@iol.ie) Subject: Hurricane Georges in Haiti During the week I heard from friends in Cap Haitien, Haiti. They said that heavy rain was the main problem. The phone lines remained intact.
Received the following from a person who wants to remain Anonymous -Gert Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 22:19:08 +0200 From: Anonymous My in-laws are in Port au Prince. They sent mail today about the situation in Haiti. They say that by the time the hurricane crossed the mountains it had lost a lot of steam. They're guessing that winds were only around 50 to 60 MPH in Port but Delpeche may have gotten closer to 100 MPH. There's been a lot of flooding. Many didn't fair well in the storm, especially some of the less fortunate with mud walled houses. Many houses collapsed due to the soaking of over 10" of rain. They watched one house collapse near them, but thankfully the people inside had apparently heard some noise and rushed out before it fell. Many others were less fortunate and have been killed or hurt. They don't expect the final toll to be in for weeks, if ever, because of lack of communications with rural areas. A friend from Delpeche called them and said that on his way up the mountain he saw quite a few flattened houses as well as some churches. Wind was apparently more of a factor in the mountains, too. All of his and everyone else's animals were dead: horses, cows, pigs, and goats. They just have no place to put them to shelter them. The chickens were just gone!
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 17:29:26 -0500 From: Jana Kuhnert (Kuhnert@accessus.net) Subject: Haven't heard from my dad since Georges. We are looking for a list of casualties from Gonaives.  We have not heard from my father who is a missionary there.  His name is John Skorczewski.  He runs a Christian mission called Teaching Others About Christ in Gonaives.  He may have been in Port a Prince when Georges hit.  We are very worried.  If any one can get a message to him and get word back to us here, we would be so grateful. George Poston in Port-au-Prince is also a missionary who lives there.  He might be able to get word to or from dad.  E-mail us back at kuhnert@accessus.net or call Debbie Hitt collect at 1-618-496-3268, Wanda Skorczewski at 618-357-8774.   Thank you very much!
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 16:46:55 -0400 From: Karen Diop (kkbjd@sover.net) Subject: Haiti post-georges I received the following update this afternoon from a friend in Haiti:: There's alot of concern locally, though, about landslides and flooding. I have unconfirmed reports that the biggest fear locally is that the Peligre Dam may give way. If that's true, and it happens, it'll be a huge fiasco not only for electricity but also loss of life and agricultural / ecological damage. Keep your fingers crossed. The bridge at Croix des Missions cannot be used because the Riv.Grise is up to the bridge. So one can't access the North road from Port au Prince- and going to Cap the Hinche way is not possible because the Hinche road is experiencing landslides.
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 10:36:51 -0700 From: Reginald Gelin (reginald@haitinews.com) Subject: from haiti actually i am in haiti, there were a ot of strong winds, and the rain was verry heavy,most of th trees around my house fel and the ones who didn't are almost out of leaves.. It is still raining, and there is no electricity.I am in Port au Prince,there is no sun,but it seems that the rain is not going to stopp soon.
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 09:45:17 -0400 From: Diane Lambert (DLambert@SearchSmart.usf.edu) Subject: Haiti 9:30 a.m. EDT I just spoke with my husband in Cape Haitian. He said there is no damage in the immediate area. The storm there did not seem severe - apparently they were protected by the mountains.
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 20:16:43 -0700 From: Claudia W. Corum (Broccoli2u@aol.com) Subject: Claudia from Haiti 10:20 CDT here in Port-au-Prince Georges is really huffing and puffing at this hour. Power comes and goes. Rain started steadily around 7 pm and is now very heavy, coupled with strong gusts. As I write, the heaviest winds yet are roaring. I've read that the center of the storm is about 45 miles North NorthEast of us at this time, moving slowly. That means it should get worse as it passes directly to our north and then out to sea. Nasty stuff.
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 20:26:48 -0400 From: Chantal Chevrier (chevrier@haitiworld.com) Subject: Update on Haiti Rain and light winds started in Port-au-Prince at approx. 7:30 PM. Most offices closed early this afternoon to allow people to go home to make preparations. We were advised to bring everything inside. Disaster preparation meetings were held by the government and the UN and major organizations are on-hold waiting for the impact of the storm on the country. It is expected to be over Haiti around 1:00 AM, Wednesday. Chantal and Peter.

[Tue, 22 Sep 1998 15:58EDT] - Karen Diop reporting from Port-au-Prince, Haiti:

     I just spoke to friends in Haiti.  They are expecting
     Georges later today and things have been deadly calm.  As we
     were talking, the wind suddenly picked up.  My friends noted
     that they were surprised that the Haitian government seems
     to have made no announcements or taken any public
     precautions in preparation for the storm.  For anyone who
     knows Haiti, high levels of damage can be expected.  We just
     hope and pray that the storm weakens over the mountains.

[Tue, 22 Sep 1998 15:54EDT] - Claudia W. Corum reporting from Port-au-Prince, Haiti:

     3:45 pm EDT
     Salut from Haiti.  Haitians are only now taking the storm seriously.  It
     had been thought that Georges would pass far to the north of us, but the
     present direction seems to be more westerly, making it more dangerous
     for the heavily populated parts of the country.
     At present, it's quite overcast.  The US Embassy closed at noon, urging
     all local employees to get home and stay home.  The American and French
     schools closed early.  The storm is not expected until very early
     tomorrow morning, but there are warnings of high winds.
     I'll send more as long as I have a phone line.

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