PT patients at Camp Hope

PT patients at Camp Hope

Today we experienced a frighteningly large wind storm that ravaged Camp Hope.

We were just finishing PT clinic, about to drive away, when the wind picked up severely, whipping all around us. The gale was so strong and the camp was so dry that we could not see 10 feet ahead of us, much of the time, due to the flying dirt & dust. Camp residents were extremely frightened, remembering their world crumbling around them only 8 months ago, as their tents began to be severely mangled.  There was literally no place for anyone to escape the dusty whirlwinds. We exited the vehicle as cries got louder & louder, about the time that the tarp roof blew off of our PT clinic.  We grabbed children & wrapped our arms around crying mothers, leading them away from areas where flying debris was most likely to begin to come loose in the camp.  About 100 feet away most of us stopped & huddled together on the ground.  The wind storm lasted about 30 minutes, much of that a time of extreme chaos.  And then we began helping residents, many of whom were patients, to return to their tents and survey the damage.  Both ARC & Love A Child management responded in person shortly thereafter.  We mobilized skilled residents to perform repairs that could be done. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, but the residents have a long weekend ahead of them repairing their tents and reorganizing their things.

It was an extremely rough night, but we were glad to be there to help our friends.

Here is a link to a description of the storm & the damage that it caused around Haiti’s tent cities:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/24/world/americas/AP-CB-Haiti-Sudden-Storm.html