Tags: 2024
* This post will be updated periodically as information comes in regarding damage.
Update for 3 July 2024
Mostly good news! Everyone is ok. Several families slept in school buildings and the ATI house last night for safety. We sustained some roof damage and one latrine is completely roofless! The community is ok and the school is right back to summer camp and soccer. Thank you, Heaven.
Update as of ~9-10am ET on 2 July 2024.
As of this morning, Beryl has shifted far enough south of Haiti to threaten the southern peninsula with "only" Tropical Storm-level winds (39-54 mph). And I'm seeing the current forecast is for less than an inch of rain! Hopefully she'll stay there and not shift north as today goes on. The wind and even a little bit of rain can still cause problems for our people but shouldn't be devastating. They have no real cover where the school is, so I'm expecting some structural damage. Certainly they'll have to clean up debris. It could be much worse!
We are Samuel's early warning system
I realized back in 2016 when Hurricane Matthew was approaching Haiti that Samuel wasn't aware of huge storms heading their way. Matthew was devastating for Piton; it undid a lot of our early work and completely wiped out Samuel's home. Since then we've had at least 3 storms and 2 earthquakes. Now this monster blows up within 24 hours from a tropical depression (~65-70) to hurricane strength (130). I began updating him yesterday morning as he was organizing the first day of summer camp activities. First day of summer camp is as hectic as the first day of school so he didn't have a lot of bandwidth to message with me. I reminded him a couple times about the storm (pa bliye) because - well - look at it.
He warned people yesterday and this morning has plans to allow 5 families from Piton and 10 families from Piton West to come sleep in the school building and the ATI house. He is making sure himself, the security guard, and other people have flashlights.
~~The Rabbit Hole ~~~
Watching Beryl so intently got me looking back at the other storms I've documented for Piton.
List of Services
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2016 Oct. Hurricane MatthewList Item 1
This was when I realized if we hadn't warned Samuel about this storm, he wouldn't have been prepared. Turns out there wasn't much he could do. Matthew was devastating and destroyed several homes in Piton, including Samuel's.
I was headed into the hospital with my first bone marrow transplant when this storm became a concern. So we were sending updates to each other as I checked in and was there for 2-3 weeks.
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2017 Sept. Hurricane Irma Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
List Item 2 -
2020 Hurricane Laura
I didn't even remember this one!
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2021 July Tropical Storm ElsaList Item 4
Elsa occurred just a week or so before another TS and an earthquake occurred in as many days.
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2021 Aug Earthquake and T.S. GraceList Item 3
These events happened within a few days of each other.
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