Pourcine Pic-Makaya – “It’s approaching, it’s raining heavily, but wind and water are forecast especially for this afternoon/evening and tomorrow. Let’s hope it won’t be too severe!” said Father Massimo Miraglio, MI, referring to the approaching Hurricane Melissa, while he himself is trapped in Jeremie due to the bad weather.
In an interview with Fides, the Italian Camillian missionary reported that he has not been able to return to his parish in Pourcine Pic Makaya.
“Melissa is moving very slowly, already devastating the Jamaican territory, and starting this afternoon, it will approach the coast of Haiti and move toward Cuba. It will pass very close to the area where I live, Grand’Anse. We expect devastating consequences, especially due to the very strong winds and the heavy rain that is expected to fall shortly. We expect severe flooding, and entire communities will be cut off from the outside world for a long time. The already dilapidated infrastructure, roads, bridges, schools, and medical centers will be severely affected, and the death toll could be high,” he fears.
“Unfortunately, I’m stuck in Jeremie. I haven’t been able to return to my parish because it’s been raining for a week and all the roads leading into the mountains are impassable. Here we are preparing to spend the night in safety and to safely store everything that might be useful for the future, especially medicines, tarpaulins, food, and clothing, especially for the parish, for an operation that we can neither predict nor estimate at this time. Here in Jeremie, too, people have few options; they live in very precarious housing, with no way to stock up on supplies or store things. They will experience very dramatic moments. In the province, the situation will be even more tragic, as communities like mine will remain isolated for a long time. Hence the effort to see how we can reach Pourcine immediately after Melissa’s passage, in order to provide at least some assistance,” the missionary reports.
“Haiti is now being hit by another violent hurricane,” Father Massimo continues. “The last one to devastate the region was in 2016. Matthew completely paralyzed the region, and nine years later, we are now preparing for a very similar scenario. The entire coast will be affected. Even if the capital, Port-au-Prince, will not be directly affected, given the dramatic situation in which hundreds of thousands of people live, just two or three days of heavy rain and wind will cause immense problems for the population, most of whom live in refugee camps and completely inadequate shelters.”
“We are trying to endure this renewed suffering with faith and hope. In recent days, many people have gathered for prayer vigils to ask for grace, strength, and courage in these truly difficult times. Since last night, many residents of the working-class neighborhoods of Jeremie have left their homes and are spending most of the night in schools or buildings set up as emergency shelters,” emphasizes Father Miraglio. “However, there remains great hope that this passage of Melissa will not completely destroy us,” the missionary concludes. “It is certain that the situation is truly very difficult and very precarious, especially, as I said, in the mountains, in the most remote areas where the communities are located in the mountains that surround all of Jeremie. The situation there will be truly difficult, also because of deforestation, the roads, and the rivers. Truly complicated environmental situations will arise. Unfortunately, people are not living in proper homes, but in shelters, very fragile structures that will collapse with the first rains and winds.”
“Let’s move forward,” he affirmed. “Let’s also start to think about how we can help people. These will be very difficult times for a large part of the population.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.