Heavy rain: orange alert in five departments, including Ouest

Haiti's Hydrometeorological Unit (UHM) raised the heavy rain alert level at noon on Sunday, 25 October. Grand'Anse, Sud, Nippes and Sud-Est move from yellow to orange. Ouest, which had returned to green on Friday, goes straight to orange. Artibonite and Nord-Ouest are placed on yellow alert.

According to the bulletin, showers, sometimes with thunderstorms, are expected from late morning over the southern peninsula and parts of Ouest, before spreading to almost the whole country by late afternoon. They could turn heavy from this evening and continue on and off until Monday evening, possibly into Monday night.

Rainfall could reach 100 to 150 millimetres, more in the mountains, with gusts of 40 to 60 km/h. The UHM, the Directorate General of Civil Protection (DGPC) and the Permanent Secretariat for Risk Management (SPGRD) warn of flash floods and landslides in vulnerable areas.

Orange means danger is likely: people are asked to avoid non-essential travel, never to cross a river, ravine or flooded road, to stay away from riverbanks and exposed slopes, to keep documents out of the water, to have drinking water, food, medicine, a radio and a torch ready, and to be prepared to evacuate when the authorities say so.

This spell of bad weather began on Thursday, 22 October. The UHM expects it to end during the day on Tuesday, 27 October, subject to confirmation. The next bulletin is due at noon on Monday.