Ten dead after flooding in post-hurricane Haiti - officials

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Flooding killed 10 people in Haiti over the weekend, an Interior Ministry official said on Sunday, as the Caribbean country faced more woes while still reeling from a hurricane last month. Up to 1,000 people died in Hurricane Matthew, which also wiped out crops and revived cholera outbreaks in the hard-hit southwestern region. The hurricane season lasts until the end of November, and ongoing rains have caused landslides, flooding and several deaths in the weeks since Matthew passed. Seven people died in the northern port city of Cap-Haitien over the weekend, said Albert Moulion, the spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior. Three other deaths occurred in the Northwest, Northeast and Grand Anse departments of the country, he said. “(The deaths) occurred under various circumstances but were all connected to the rain,” Moulion said. “Vigilance is still called for because weather conditions indicate that there will be more rain this week.” A Twitter account belonging to the Department of Civil Protection said three of those who died were children. The interim president’s office issued a statement on Sunday calling for the suspension of maritime activities and asked affected residents to avoid crossing bodies of water and to evacuate their homes if necessary. “The president of the republic, his excellence Mr. Jocelerme Privert, is concerned by the recent flooding in the city of Cap-Haitien and its surrounding area…following torrential rain that caused water to run in the majority of downtown streets and the neighboring areas,” the statement read. “Furthermore he regrets the loss of human life and the enormous damage to plantations.” (Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Peter Cooney)