Storm Damage at Haiti Relocation Camp Heightens Fears for Hurricane Season

(July 15) -- The arrival of hurricane season is prompting fear and anxiety in Haiti, after a strong summer storm tore through a relocation camp north of Port-au-Prince, destroying a quarter of its tents and sending an estimated 1,700 homeless people looking for emergency shelter.

The Corail-Cesselesse relocation camp was billed by the Haitian government as a safe haven for families left homeless by the devastating January earthquake, but Tuesday's squall exposed the battered country's lack of defenses against severe weather elements that are expected to intensify as the hurricane season progresses.

"I think this is a fair warning," Leonard Doyle, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, told the New York Times. "What happened was essentially a squall that led to some 344 tents being ripped asunder or damaged. One shudders to think what would happen when a proper storm arrived."

Six people were injured by flying debris and falling solar-powered lightposts when the storm ripped through the camp. The Times cited the camp manager as saying a mother and her baby were struck by lightning. Haitian radio reported the baby later died.

The storm revealed that the Corail camp, situated in a remote area of the island and declared a safe spot for an estimated 7,000 homeless Haitians, is, in fact, vulnerable to flooding and landslides. As AOL News reported, a recent United Nations study revealed that emergency shelter materials -- particularly camping-style tents -- cannot withstand the extreme weather in Haiti.

"Without a doubt tents are not designed for hurricanes," Doyle told The Associated Press. "Even houses are not necessarily designed for hurricane conditions."

"This incident highlights the need to step up disaster preparedness measures across the board as the hurricane season gets into full swing," he wrote on the International Organization for Migration's website.

Aid groups provided emergency shelter to people whose tents were destroyed and replacement tents, tarps and other items have been distributed. But for many residents, there is little calm after the storm.

"People are not going to tolerate this situation anymore," a young man at Corail who identified himself as Alphonse told the AP. "We came here and they told us that in three months we will be relocated. Six months have passed and we are still here."