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Local 10 Tours Devastation In Haiti After Hurricane Ike

POSTED: Monday, September 15, 2008
UPDATED: 2:04 pm EDT September 15, 2008

Haiti is still reeling from four deadly storms. But it was the force of Ike, the last storm to hit the island, that broke the country's back.

Local 10's Calvin Hughes traveled to Haiti last week where he got a firsthand look at the devastation.

"The prime minister told me that every city is affected," Hughes reported.

In Cabaret, a city about 40 minutes outside of Port au Prince, the damage is catastrophic. At least 63 people died there, 18 of them children.

Just about everything in Cabaret was wiped out – homes, clean water, basic necessities.

Hughes said he found dozens of people taking a bath and washing their clothes in dirty flood waters.

Thousands are living on the streets or in shelters.

Fleurine Jean, 58, asked if anyone was coming to help rebuild her home. Jean lost everything in the floods.

One man remembered the exact time Ike hit, 2:16 a.m. on Sunday. He said there was no time to save anything.

Plantain Jean is a relief worker. He told Local 10 that they're starting to get some help in Cabaret but it's not enough.

"They can't feed everybody," Jean said. He hopes more help will come.

The U.S. Marines and United Nations are sending hundreds of tons of supplies to storm-ravaged cities in Haiti.

Local 10 went along with them as they delivered everything from rice and beans to hygiene kits and fresh water.

Hughes said he also saw hundreds of hungry people waiting for food. Some of them told him they had not eaten for days.

One man asked Hughes to talk to the person in charge and help him get some rice.

Haiti's new prime minister, Michele Pierre Louis, toured the hardest hit areas twice, including the city of Gonaieves.

"Devastating, completely devastating," she said. "It's really bad"

The prime minister said even several days after the last storm, there are some villages where people are still living without homes and fresh water.

Many people, she said, may be losing hope.

"Plain and simple, Haiti needs help," she said.

How You Can Help Victims Of Hurricane Ike

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