May 2004 Caribbean floods

Widespread flooding and rising rivers had serious consequences in several parts of the country, including the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, and the town of Fond Verrettes. The road linking the two areas was unusable, so air transport was the only option.[2] Fond Verrettes was almost completely washed away, and a mudslide swept away more than 500 houses in the town.[8]

In addition, the town of Mapou, located 50 km southeast of the capital, was cut off by flooding.[9] The water reached a depth of more than 3 metres.[10] Consequently, 1,300 houses, almost half of Mapou's houses, were severely damaged.[11] In the area surrounding Mapou, more than 35 villages were affected.[9]

Approximately 5,000 families were displaced throughout the country.[2]

Floods occurred in the south, northwest, and northeast areas of the country. Telephone communications and electricity were affected, as was the supply of drinking water due to damage to 21 aqueducts in the country.[9] The most damaged area was the community of Jimani, in the west of the country.[2] More than 300 houses were demolished there.[9] Patients at the hospital of Jimani had to be evacuated because the facilities were severely flooded.[12]

Moreover, other provinces such as Barahona, Bahoruco, Elías Piña and Duarte also suffered the consequences of the floods. Duarte's rice crops represented 70% of all rice crops in the Dominican Republic.[13] Due to the flood, thousands of hectares of rice crops in this area, as well as banana crops were destroyed. Also in this northeastern province of Duarte, around 100 families had to be relocated to temporary shelters.[9]

Across the Dominican Republic, 3,112 houses were affected in some way by the floods.[9] Around 3,000 families were displaced.[2] Given the extent of the damage, the Dominican Republic National Emergency Commission declared a yellow alert in the country.[13]

Authorities of the Dominican Republic buried more than 250 bodies immediately and sprayed disinfectant from aircraft over Jimani to prevent the spread of disease from decomposing bodies.[10][14] They also sent the army to search for victims by using dogs and shovels.[15] In addition, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) Coordinating Unit promptly contacted with multi-lateral and bi-lateral counterparts in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to ascertain needs, monitor the situation as it evolved and provide SitReps (Situation Reports) and needs information.[2] Social Service of Dominican Churches (SSID) began an initial assessment of difficulty in accessing water-logged regions.[16] It also assessed damages and losses in the communities where it worked, and prepared a multi-year food security proposal targeting families whose food security situation was severely affected by the disaster.[16] Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Service Chrétien d'Haiti (SCH) applied to Church World Service (CWS) for the reallocation of food shipment to flood survivors that had originally been intended for use in response to Haiti's recent social and political unrest.[16]

The international community led by the United Nations (UN) responded very quickly to the emergency in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The UN dispatched a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (UNDAC) to coordinate donor response activity in the affected countries.[2]

Many other countries and regions also provided emergency assistance:

• The United States led military force ferried emergency aid to a hard-hit Haitian town;[17]
• The British Virgin Islands pledged US$20,000;[18]
• Belize pledged one container of relief supplies for each of the affected countries and BZ$25,000 through the Red Cross;[18]
• Jamaica donated medical supplies and equipment that were sent by boat;[18]
• Ireland pledged up to €100,000 in emergency humanitarian assistance in response to flooding and storms in both countries;[19]
• The European Union sent an emergency package worth about €2 million ($2.43 m).[20]

On May 26, 2004, the official death toll in both countries totalled 870.[15] By May 29, 2004, the number of deaths had skyrocketed. In Haiti death tolls were at 1,800:[21] 1,000 (Mapou),[21] 548 (Bodarie, Thiotte, Grand Gosier),[10] 250 (Fonds-Verettes),[15] 2 (Port-a-Piment).[22] On the Dominican side, death tolls were at 415:[10] 393 (Jimaní)[17] and 22 (Elia Piña, Duarte, Sanchez).[23]

Changes in the ecosystems led to an increase in vector (mosquito) population. Both countries reported Malaria outbreaks with 13,157 cases reported in 2004 compared to 1,529 cases reported in 2003.[24] There was also a low incidence of classic dengue with 2,340 cases reported in total.[25]

Damage to the water and sanitation infrastructure also led to water-borne disease outbreaks. Prior to the floods, Rotavirus disease was a major health issue in both countries - accounting for 42% of all diarrheal deaths.[26] In 2004, both countries reported a sharp increase in rotavirus infections. A total of 275 deaths were reported in Independencia Province.[27] There were no leptospirosis and cholera cases reported in both countries^.  However, the damaging effects of this and subsequent disasters continuously weakened the water and sanitation infrastructure which eventually led to a major cholera outbreak in 2010.[28]

Prior to the floods, both countries had the highest Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) prevalence rate outside of sub-Saharan Africa.[29] The floods had exacerbated the HIV and TB epidemic in both countries. Although the prevalence of new cases seemed low, a disruption in access to multi-level biomedical interventions led to an increase in mortality rates. HIV death rates in the Dominican Republic alone reached 80.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2004.[30] The floods also disrupted immunisation programs for vaccine-preventable diseases. Poor immunisation coverage for diphtheria led to an outbreak in 2004 in the Dominican Republic and a resurgence in Haiti since December 2014.[31]