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Rapidly Assessing the Impact of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti

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Streets in Haiti after Hurricane Matthew. Photo: MINUSTAH

The Haitian population is one of the most exposed in the world to natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. The number of disasters per kilometer tops the average for other Caribbean countries. The Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index ranked Haiti third in the world in 1995–2014 for impacts from climatic events, and the country is among the ten zones in the world considered most vulnerable to climate change. In 2008, tropical storms and hurricanes caused losses estimated at 15 percent of GDP. The earthquake on January 12, 2010, killed 220,000 people, displaced 1.5 million people, and destroyed the equivalent of 120 percent of GDP. These disasters tend to disproportionately affect the poorest and most marginal populations, those settling in the flood zones and coastal areas particularly affected by tropical storms. Almost 50 percent of damage and losses to the productive sectors have been concentrated in the agricultural sector. Based on available historic data, weather-related disasters are estimated to have caused damage and losses in Haiti amounting to about two percent of GDP on average per year from 1975 to 2012.

Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti on October 4, 2016, as a Category 4 hurricane. The combined effects of wind, coastal flooding and rain caused heavy flooding, landslides, and the destruction of a great deal of infrastructure, agricultural crops and natural ecosystems. In all, 546 people were killed, more than 175,500 people sought refuge in shelters, and about 1.4 million people required immediate humanitarian assistance. An assessment of the damage and losses had to be carried out very quickly to unlock financial resources from the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund to provide the assistance needed by those affected by the disaster.

The WBG, in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, closely supported the client through data gathering from field visits, phone surveys, and satellites and drones, as well as simulations through modelling. A full report assessing the damage and losses was delivered less than two weeks after the request, a task that usually takes at least three months. This rapid assessment covered all affected sectors and was the first multi-sectoral evaluation of the socioeconomic impacts of the hurricane as well as of its macroeconomic effects and impacts on individual and household income.

Matthew was a Category 4 hurricane, an event predicted to occur only once every 56 years. It inflicted damage and losses in Haiti estimated at the equivalent of 22 percent of GDP. Specific impacts of the hurricane included the following:

  • The disaster affected over 2 million people, about 20 percent of Haiti’s population, primarily in the poorest regions of the county.
  • The hurricane resulted in flooding, landslides, and extensive destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods.
  • The agriculture and housing/urban sectors were the hardest hit, with up to 90 percent of crops and livestock lost in some areas.
  • Thousands of structures were damaged, and key roads and bridges were washed away.
  • It’s estimated that over 450,000 children were out of school.
  • The vaccine cold chain was destroyed.
  • A sharp increase in suspected cholera cases was recorded in affected departments.

Assessing in record time the damage and losses, as well as identifying the most affected sectors and the potential human costs, led to rapid reallocation of about US$50 million from the Bank’s ongoing portfolio. The enabled responses included:

  • Rehabilitation of roads and bridges, including the major bridge to the country’s south.
  • Schools were repaired and refurnished, semi-permanent school shelters built, school children fed, and water treatment kits and school kits provided.
  • Rapid response to cholera was strengthened.
  • Emergency sanitation and chlorination water systems were implemented.
  • Irrigations systems were rehabilitated, inputs for the next agricultural season were provided and seeds given to 2,500 farmers.
  • Some entrepreneurs received cash transfers to cover damages and losses in the coffee, cocoa, and honey value chains.
  • Portable solar lamps and solar household systems were made available, some distribution grids were rehabilitated, hurricane preparedness was strengthened and energy infrastructure vulnerability was reduced.

These rapid interventions not only helped to minimize losses in the winter harvest and prevent widespread famine, they also helped contain the cholera outbreak and limit migration and violence.

Bank Group Contribution

The World Bank, through the International Development Association (IDA), reallocated US$50 million from ongoing projects to the affected sectors. In addition, US$100 million under the IDA Crisis Response Window were mobilized for four additional financings to relaunch heavily damaged agriculture, restore connectivity through transport infrastructure and provide a robust cholera response.

Bank support focused on sectors with limited technical capacity, and particularly those sectors with counterparts in the government. The support promoted local ownership of the assessment by each of the line ministries while ensuring implementation of a standardized methodology. The rapid assessment benefited from joint support from the Inter-American Development Bank teams, FAO, UNICEF, and UNEP. In addition, the IMF mobilized US$ 41 million under their Rapid Credit Facility to help with urgent balance of payments needs in the aftermath of Matthew.

Beneficiaries

The rapid assessment allowed the identification of populations in need of urgent assistance, including over 30,000 children in affected schools. The assessment also provided information for effective targeting of rehabilitation efforts: about 45 school roofs and school grounds were rehabilitated, 60 semi-permanent shelters were built, and 4,000 pieces of school furniture (benches, desks, blackboards, etc.) were distributed, enabling schools to reopen and to increase their capacity in the short and medium term. In addition, 16,000 student kits (bag, books, notebooks, pens), 900 teacher kits (including dictionaries, compasses, rulers, maps), and 151 school kits (including blackboards and chalk) were distributed. Further efforts included providing 22,000 students in 90 schools in affected regions (Grand’Anse, Sud, and Nippes) with a daily snack and hot meal, as well as water-treatment and sanitation kits, soap, de-worming medication, vitamin A and cholera-prevention hygiene training. 

Subsequent interventions targeted 1.5 million beneficiaries in areas with limited health service delivery infrastructure. Isolated populations in the southern peninsula benefited from the provision of health services through mobile clinics, and in Nippes, Grande-Anse and Sud,

300,000 children benefited from the restoration of basic infrastructure for immunization and vaccine cold chains.

Cash transfers and in-kind support will also be provided to 325 micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. The cash transfers and in-kind support will help the beneficiaries recover from losses and continue productive activities in their respective value chain, i.e., coffee (Grand'Anse and Southeast); vetiver (South); and honey (Nippes).

Moving Forward

This rapid damage and losses assessment fed into the more thorough Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) undertaken under the leadership of the Haitian Ministry of Planning, with support from the World Bank Group, the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNDP and various UN agencies. The PDNA was finalized in early January 2017 and launched by the President of the Republic in early February 2017. More importantly, this rapid assessment was instrumental in drawing up the needed framework and quickly moving from emergency response to recovery. Finally, this rapid assessment served as an important input to the preparation of the Bank’s first financing to reach the Board post–Hurricane Matthew. An International Development Agency education grant of US$ 30 million to maintain access to quality education in the areas most affected by Hurricane Matthew, delivered to the Board approximately five weeks after the disaster, was approved in November 2016.

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  • A short video of before and after the hurricane

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Losses Avoided from Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina

Study summary.

This study examines losses avoided in the State of North Carolina as a result of previous hazard mitigation projects. A large number of the projects were property acquisition and demolition in this analysis. The data clearly show that substantially more damage would have occurred if these properties had not been acquired.

Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina in early October 2016. A Federal Disaster was declared on October 4, 2016. According to the latest estimate from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Hurricane Matthew-related flooding has impacted more than 100,000 structures in the State valued at $1.5 billion. To date, there have been 2,336 water rescues and 26 storm-related deaths in the State of North Carolina.

Many roads, homes and businesses were flooded.

In eastern North Carolina, local governments issued mandatory evacuations, and as of October 16, 2016, there were 2,179 State residents in 32 shelters run by the State. In Lenoir County, 200 people were in the two County shelters, and County officials are working to find temporary homes for residents. National Guard reservists, State Highway Patrol, and Coast Guard members are standing ready throughout the County to assist residents. In the City of Kinston, NC (located in Lenoir County), approximately 1,000 structures have been affected by flooding from Hurricane Matthew. Preliminary estimates indicate that flooding in Kinston has impacted over 800 homes and 170 commercial properties with an estimated value of $125 million.

Unfortunately, North Carolina has extensive experience with hurricanes and the damage they can inflict. Although there is significant damage in the State, things could have been much worse. After Hurricane Fran in 1996, North Carolina received FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) funding for 478 projects. The State received $323 million for implementing activities such as property acquisition/relocation, elevation, stormwater management, utility protective measures, retrofitting of public structures, public awareness and education, and water and sanitary sewer system protective measures. Included in these projects is the acquisition or elevation above the 100-year flood elevation of approximately 6,000 properties.

Lenoir County and the City of Kinston, both hit heavily by Hurricane Fran, worked with the State of North Carolina and FEMA, using HMA funds, to acquire 420 structures, 3 mobile home parks, and 68 vacant lots that were located in the most flood-prone areas of the City and County. The goal of these acquisitions was to move people and structures out of areas that would likely be impacted by flooding in the future. By removing these structures and maintaining the areas as open space, the City managed to decrease the losses experienced during Hurricane Matthew.

According to the Mayor of Kinston, “ Having experienced two floods of the century in less than two decades is pretty phenomenal in and of itself, but actually, because of that, 90 percent of the residential areas that would be impacted today, they’ve already been moved out because FEMA bought those houses years ago ,” said Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy.

Maps 1 and 2 and Tables 1 and 2 illustrate areas in North Carolina where flood-prone properties were acquired using FEMA grant funds, and the losses avoided as a result of these acquisitions. These data are based on geographic information system (GIS) information from FEMA. Of the 6,000 properties mitigated throughout the State, 2,249 properties located in the Hurricane Matthew flood-impacted areas were considered in this study. For a conservative (lower bound) analysis, 488 properties that had less than 2 feet of floodwater were not included.

This study did not take into account other losses avoided, such as emergency response costs, insurance payments, debris removal, and others, so the actual losses avoided are likely substantially higher than what the GIS data show.

North Carolina HMA Property Analysis. Shows approximate flood depth in feet ranging from low of 0-2 inches to high of 20+ inches; also shows the number of HMA counties in North Carolina ranging from low of 1 to 10 and high of greater than 100.

The upper bound estimate accounts for 2,249 structures that were acquired or elevated at a total project cost of$271,061,352. This equals a Return on Investment (ROI) of 0.87 and a total losses avoided amount of $234,814,741.

Table 1. Estimate of Losses Avoided from Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina – Upper Bound Estimate

The lower bound estimate accounts for 1,761 structures that were acquired or elevated at a total project cost of$266,222,172. This equals a Return on Investment (ROI) for the grant funds of 0.77 and total losses avoided amount of $206,653,920.

Table 2. Estimate of Losses Avoided from Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina – Lower Bound Estimate

This study shows that even with a conservative, lower bound estimate of damages avoided, there is still a significant benefit to the State, communities, and residents as a direct result of their determination and commitment to hazard mitigation. In short, mitigation works; it saves lives and properties and reduces the financial impact of hazards on the community.

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Hurricane Matthew (2016) and its impact under global warming scenarios

  • Original Article
  • Published: 17 January 2018
  • Volume 4 , pages 97–109, ( 2018 )

Cite this article

  • Mansur Ali Jisan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1651-3631 1 ,
  • Shaowu Bao 1 ,
  • Leonard J. Pietrafesa 1 ,
  • Dongliang Shen 2 ,
  • Paul T. Gayes 1 &
  • Jason Hallstrom 3  

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A coupled atmosphere–ocean model was used to study the impact of future ocean warming, both at and below the water surface, on hurricane track and intensity and the associated coastal storm surge and inundation. A strong Saffir–Simpson Category-5 hurricane, Hurricane Matthew made landfall on the South Carolina (SC) coast of the United States (US) in September 2016 and was used as our study case. Future ocean warming was calculated based on the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. Validated setup of the model was used to simulate the changes in track, intensity, storm surge, and inundation of Hurricane Matthew under future climate ocean warming scenarios. Results showed that the future ocean warming could make the hurricanes stronger in intensity, which, in turn, will greatly increase subsequent coastal storm surge and inundation. For example, under the RCP 8.5 scenario, Matthew’s maximum wind speed would increase by 18 knots (12.97%), its minimum sea-level pressure would deepen by 26 hPa (2.78%), and the coastal area inundated would increase by 70.20% from that of the present day. Moreover, the increases in coastal surge and inundation could likely lead to a downstream blocking of upstream water systems, thereby exacerbating upstream lateral flooding as the rivers go into storage modes; but that potential is beyond the scope of this study.

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Acknowledgements

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is acknowledged for undergirding this research effort. Coastal Carolina University’s (CCU) Cyber Infrastructure Project is used to perform the simulations in this study, which is funded by NSF Major Research Instrument under contract AGS-1624068. Two NSF awards supporting the investigations of the processes of storm-induced coastal surge and inundation and inland flooding are CNS-1541917 and CNS-1713922. The SC State Guard is acknowledged for encouraging that prognostic studies such as this be conducted, so that they may be better prepared for future environmental hazardous events. CCU is acknowledged for providing the facility computational time support for this study.

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Department of Coastal and Marine Systems Science, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, 29526, USA

Mansur Ali Jisan, Shaowu Bao, Leonard J. Pietrafesa & Paul T. Gayes

Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China

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Jisan, M.A., Bao, S., Pietrafesa, L.J. et al. Hurricane Matthew (2016) and its impact under global warming scenarios. Model. Earth Syst. Environ. 4 , 97–109 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-018-0420-6

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Received : 09 November 2017

Accepted : 06 January 2018

Published : 17 January 2018

Issue Date : April 2018

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-018-0420-6

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Hurricane Matthew in Haiti 2016

Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti in October 2016. It was the worst disaster to strike Haiti since the 2010 earthquake,  and it affected over two million people. ActionAid’s humanitarian response was led by local people and partners, with a programme that was quick, effective, and focused on priorities identified by local communities themselves.

We supported over 58,000 people in some of Haiti’s remotest regions, providing food, water and cholera prevention kits, building long-term resilience through cash for work, commerce and farming, and prioritising women’s rights and protection through women’s safe spaces, enterprise and training.

Women were leaders at all levels of the ActionAid Hurricane Matthew response. From Ismene, the female civil engineer who spearheaded the build of our ‘Women’s Friendly Spaces’, to Elsia, a Cash for Work team leader who sheltered 40 people during the hurricane, we ensured the specific needs of women were met and that their voices were heard and skills valued.

Hurricane Matthew: facts and figures 

On the night of 4 October 2016 , Hurricane Matthew struck the south-western tip of Haiti bringing heavy rainfall in the south, south-east and the north-west, and creating the largest humanitarian emergency in the country since the 2010 earthquake.

The Category 4 storm left 806,000 people in need of urgent food assistance and caused considerable damage to housing and agricultural sectors.

Who was affected and what damage was caused?

  • 546 people died in the hurricane, and an estimated 175,500 people were displaced, scattered in over 300 temporary shelters.
  • 2.1 million people were affected and 1.4 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance , including 800,000 children.
  • 34 cholera treatment centres were destroyed.
  • 806,000 people were at an extreme level of food insecurity.
  • In the badly-affected region of Grand’Anse, over 90% of crops were destroyed , as well as a significant loss of livestock.

hurricane matthew 2016 case study

Ilafab Felix, 69, and his grandson Eric, 9, (name changed), sitting by the remains of their house which was completely crushed by a nearby tree during Hurricane Matthew. Photo: Dylan Roberts/FreeSociety/ActionAid

What was ActionAid’s response to Hurricane Matthew?

ActionAid Haiti's response focused on the Grand’Anse department in the south west , because it is one of the worst affected areas, and because ActionAid has a strong local presence and existing partners in the region.

Within Grand’Anse we responded in five communes : Abricots, Beaumont, Bonbon, Jeremie, and Roseaux.

As always, our response was coordinated in terms of the immediate, medium and long term.

Immediate term response (Oct-Nov 2016):

Just hours after the hurricane on 5 October, our team set out distributing initial response kits, and despite the challenging conditions, we were able to start distributing hygiene kits soon afterwards. For example:

  • We delivered first response kits to 2,804 households , supporting over 14,000 individuals with basic essentials.
  • We reduced the risk of cholera by giving 3,394 households cholera/hygiene kits , and 1,066 households water cleaning tablets.
  • We also trained 3,997 people in hygiene awareness . 

Medium term response (Dec 2016-Jan 2017):

In the medium-term, we focussed on empowering and protecting women and helping people earn an income again, through our Cash for Work schemes. For example:

  • We trained  603 community representatives in how to protect women  (reaching up to 30,150 people) and constructed  four Women Friendly Spaces
  • We gave out  cash vouchers  for agriculture (742 households), shelter (1,120 households) and women's commerce (1,000 women).
  • We provided  cash for 10 days of work  to 2,554 individuals, which rehabilitated 24km of roads and 54.18 hectares of farmland.
  • We  trained 78 locally skilled builders  to build back better, including 22 women.

hurricane matthew 2016 case study

Women working as part of ActionAid's Cash for Work scheme in Haiti

Women leading the Cash for Work scheme

ActionAid reached 1,244 people in the Grand’Anse region through our Cash for Work scheme.

Each individual was paid for 10 days of work , as well as performing one day of ‘community participation’.

The work consisted mostly of road clearing and repair, but also involved  agriculture in the community .

Workers were in teams of 13 including one ‘chief’, as well as one ‘supervisor’ for every 5 teams. 50% of the participants, and most of the team leaders, were women .

Long term response (Feb-April 2017):

In the long term, we continued to promote women's leadership , supported children, and helped communities to ' build back better '.

For example:

  • We  trained   38 female entrepeneurs  in management, marketing and how to make beauty and hygeine products.
  • We offered  psychosocial support to 1,719 children , through our Child Friendly Spaces.
  • We gave solar lamps to 500 households, which are also torches and phone chargers.

hurricane matthew 2016 case study

Ismene, a social worker and civil engineer, worked with ActionAid during the Hurricane Matthew humanitarian response in Haiti from October 2016.

Engineer Ismene supervised building work and training

Ismene was employed by ActionAid to deliver women's protection training, and as a qualified engineer, she also supervised the building of our four Women Friendly Spaces.

"We ran the trainings in hired spaces – church halls, schools," she said.

"But now after the Women’s Friendly Spaces are built, women will have their own space to get together and learn."

Learn more about women's leadership

How did our response promote women's leadership?

Women face additional challenges during a disaster. It is mostly women who are the caretakers of people in Haiti – the youngest, the eldest; they fetch water and do all the domestic chores. When a community is in crisis, this domestic burden on women increases . This entire burden falls onto their shoulders, and the turbulent context means that they are also vulnerable to increased sexual violence and exploitation.

That's why helping local women be at the forefront of our response is so important, making our response more effective, inclusive and sustainable.

  • Two months before the hurricane, ActionAid facilitated training of 30 women to become leaders in emergencies.
  • In the immediate aftermath, we identified additional strong women leaders who wanted to help, through our local partners.
  • We provided small wages to compensate women for their leadership work, giving recognition and value to their work.

Yolette Etienne, ActionAid Haiti Country Director said:

At every step of our response, women were promoted, valued, and taken into account.”

hurricane matthew 2016 case study

Team leader Elsa sheltered 40 people in her home

When Elsia’s house was the only one left standing in her community on the night of Hurricane Matthew, she took in over 40 community members of all ages, giving them food, her clothes, even her bed.

She took part in many of ActionAid’s response activities, including becoming a team leader of 13 men and women in our Cash for Work scheme.

She said: "I am the leader of this group of people working on the land, planting beans and corn. I, as a woman, am participating and leading this team. I have hope for my community, because with solidarity, support, training, awareness and working together, we can make a change.

"It’s already changing. In particular, women are being given empowerment, being given commerce and livelihoods . The training doesn’t just give us something tangible but also makes a positive change in your mind-set, on how you should be, what you deserve, how you should deal with problems. These are creating positive changes in the community. They are spreading hope and making everyone feel that they are not alone."

Elsa worked as a team leader during ActionAid's emergency response to Hurricane Matthew

What are ActionAid’s plans for future work in Grand’Anse?

ActionAid has a long standing relationship with communities in Grand’Anse and has worked alongside our local partner KPGA for almost 10 years. We will continue to maintain this strong presence in the area for the foreseeable future , transitioning out of the emergency response phase and into development and longer-term work.

We will work to reinforce our new partnerships , as well as our strong relationship with KPGA. We will also continue to support our sponsored children and communities that live in the hurricane-affected region.

ActionAid’s strong focus on building local capacity – through training on women’s protection, on hygiene, on accountability, and for builders and entrepreneurs – has embedded skills and knowledge in a very vulnerable community and hopefully built capacity to respond with more strength to future shocks .

The Women’s Friendly Spaces we have constructed will be permanent community resources , facilitated by ActionAid and local partners to provide support for individual women and to bring groups of women together in the years to come.

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Page updated 2 March 2023

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hurricane ​matthew 2016

"Some Of Us Will Die" - USA TODAY
a   violent,   tropical,   cyclonic   storm   of   the   western   North   Atlantic,   having  wind   speeds   o f,   or   in   excess   of   72  mph / 118km/hr   (32   m/sec).

Additional  reading ..... The   ROLE  OF  CLIMATE  CHANGE .

Energy.gov Home

DOE emergency response efforts provide clear and consistent communication to deliver situational awareness of energy sector impacts. DOE responders in the field will facilitate subject matter expertise and assist with expedited waivers and special permits that aid industry restoration efforts. We do so in close communication with our Federal partners, including FEMA, the Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Defense, Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as state agencies and energy companies affected by the storm. DOE will be issuing situation reports to provide details on the storm’s impact, and the energy industry recovery and restoration activities being undertaken.

2016_SitRep_12_Matthew_FINAL.pdf

2016_SitRep_11_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_10_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_9_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_8_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_7_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_6_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_5_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_4_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_3_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_2_Matthew.pdf

2016_SitRep_1_Matthew.pdf

Sophia Melo Gomes

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