UN warns Haiti at high risk from severe hurricanes

04 Jun 2025 22:33
04 Jun 2025 22:42

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UN warns Haiti at high risk from severe hurricanes

As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season begins, Haiti faces an elevated disaster risk, with meteorologists predicting an unusually active storm season. The warning comes as the country grapples with a deepening humanitarian crisis marked by mass displacement and widespread insecurity.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there is a 60 percent chance that this year’s hurricane season, running from June through November, will be more active than normal, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

The forecast includes 13 to 19 named storms, with six to 10 expected to become hurricanes, and three to five reaching major status — storms with winds over 110 mph.

“Everything is in place for an above-average season,” said NOAA’s National Weather Service Director Ken Graham during a press briefing. The main driver: warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures, which fuel more powerful and longer-lasting storms.

In Haiti, the implications are dire. More than one million Haitians have been displaced by gang activity and insecurity in recent years. Roughly 200,000 of them now reside in makeshift displacement camps, many situated in flood-prone areas without proper shelter, drainage, or sanitation. These sites lack proper shelter, drainage, and sanitation, conditions the United Nations says leave families dangerously exposed to storms.

“These conditions leave families acutely vulnerable to storms,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during a recent press briefing at UN headquarters in New York.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said they are working alongside Haitian authorities and relief groups to prepare for potential disasters. That includes identifying high-risk areas, reinforcing early warning systems, and coordinating contingency plans to protect the most vulnerable populations.

But those preparations are hitting roadblocks. Humanitarian access remains limited, particularly in areas under gang control, and there are few pre-positioned emergency supplies across the country—something Dujarric attributed directly to underfunding.

“This is a direct consequence of underfunding,” UN Spokesperson Dujarric said during the briefing. “Funding remains a major obstacle,” he said, warning that the UN’s emergency response system in Haiti is stretched thin and could buckle under the pressure of multiple storms.

Last April, a displacement camp set up on the grounds of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications (MTPTC) was completely flooded. The people forced to flee their homes due to gang violence have spent several nights standing to push back floodwaters from their makeshift shelters.

Despite not being able to sleep the night before due to heavy rainfall, on the early morning of Sunday, April 13, everyone was already awake, hauling gravel, sand, and concrete blocks, and digging trenches in a desperate attempt to prepare for yet another night of downpour.

The hurricane season officially runs from June through November. As climate patterns continue to evolve, many fear that without decisive support, even a single major storm could unravel the limited stability some communities have managed to maintain.

Across the Atlantic, scientists caution that climate change is increasing the intensity of hurricanes. Kristen Corbosiero, a tropical meteorology professor at the University at Albany, told the Associated Press that storms are powering up more quickly, often leaving communities with less time to prepare.

“We don’t need a hyperactive season to have devastation,” she said, referencing how even a single storm like 1992’s Hurricane Andrew reshaped entire regions.

Haiti’s susceptibility to natural disasters is not new, but the convergence of displacement, insecurity, and weak infrastructure makes this season particularly perilous. Aid workers say time is running out to act.

News.Az