Haiti death toll reportedly climbs to over 1,000
Hurricane Matthew left 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and a Reuters report put the death at over 1,000.
In the wake of the destruction left by Hurricane Matthew, some of the dead in Haiti are being buried in mass graves, a government official said on Sunday.
According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the hurricane left 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and a Reuters report put the death at over 1,000, much higher than the central civil protection agency count at 336. The lower count is due to the need for officials to visit each village to tally the death toll.
Kedner Frenel, the most senior central government official in the Grand’Anse region, said that 552 people were killed in that region alone. Frenel also added that there were concerns about the spread of cholera in the wake of the destruction, as authorities attempt to get food and water to those in the affected areas.
Because of cholera’s short incubation period, it is given to outbreaks, and because it causes severe diarrhea, it can kill people within hours if they are not properly treated. Government officials spent the weekend trying to reach the center of one epidemic as well as repairing treatment centers.
