Sara Fajardo
Sara Fajardo is a communications officer for the US-based aid agency Catholic Relief Services (CRS). CRS has been working in Haiti since 1954.
Storms turn Haiti's roads into rivers
Holly Inurreta, Catholic Relief Services' regional technical advisor for emergencies, is on the ground in Haiti. She spoke via phone with Sara Fajardo. Here's the story that developed from that conversation: On Saturday morning, we took two trucks to Gonaives when the road was open. The trucks carried enough food for 240 families for 15 days, and enough water for 800 families for 3 days. We also brought 2,000 hygiene kits. A half-hour outside of Gonaives, we saw a lake, a massive part of an open savannah that was filled with water. It's normally dry, but the rain had inundated it and washed out the main bridge to the city. Gonaives is a floodplain, one of the biggest watersheds in Haiti. Severe deforestation means the water just runs down the river and creates massive flooding. There is no way for this devastated land to absorb this water. We had to find an alternative route, often driving in areas that were knee-high with water. ...
