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Updated 2.40pm
IRELAND WILL PROVIDE humanitarian aid to Haiti in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew.
At least 300 people have been killed in the country, as the storm left a trail of destruction in its wake across the Caribbean in recent days.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said the number of dead may rise as authorities re-establish contact with regions cut off by the storm.
In a statement released today, the department noted: “Emergency relief operations, led by the Haitian government, are hindered after the collapse of a bridge which cut off the only road linking Port-au-Prince to the southern Haiti peninsula.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Flanagan said the damage and destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti in recent days is “another devastating blow to communities previously affected by the earthquake in 2010″.
Initial rapid assessments indicate that over 350,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance and some 20,000 people have been displaced from their homes. There are increasing concerns that flooding will exacerbate pre-existing epidemics such as cholera, dengue fever and Zika.
“The death tolls continues to rise and we know that many thousands of people have lost their homes and possessions in the aftermath of the strongest storm to hit the region in a decade.
“We are monitoring the situation closely in coordination with our partners on the ground. Assessments of the damage and requirements are ongoing and Ireland is prepared to provide humanitarian assistance once a clearer picture of humanitarian needs has emerged. We will work with our NGO partners to respond appropriately.”
Florida
Hurricane Matthew unleashed torrential rains and up to 120 mile-an-hour winds as it passed the Florida coast today.
Matthew was downgraded to a Category Three storm earlier by the National Hurricane Center, as its wind speed dropped slightly. However, Florida is still facing its most dangerous hurricane in recent memory.
Local media showed empty streets battered by wind as horizontal rain pounded the coast at dawn, with downed power lines and trees blocking streets and keeping residents trapped in place.
States of emergencies have been declared in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The storm caused havoc as it hit Haiti’s southern coast on Tuesday, killing more than 300 people, according to a senator from the region, Herve Fourcand.
The government toll stands at 122 deaths and Radio Television Caraibes reported 264 dead. A definitive tally will take some time to collect because the damage is so intense.
Aerial footage by journalists who made it to the hardest hit towns showed a ruined landscape of metal shanties with their roofs blown away and downed trees everywhere. Brown mud from overflowing rivers covered the ground.
In the town of Jeremie, 80% of the buildings were knocked down, the NGO Care said. The town of 30,000 people “is completely destroyed”, Jean-Michel Vigreux, director of Care Haiti, said.
The aerial footage is reminiscent of the aftermath of the killer earthquake that ravaged Haiti in 2010.
Further south, the town of Cayes, the third largest in Haiti, was battered by the storm for hours.
“I thought I was going to die. I looked death in the face,” 36-year-old Yolette Cazenor said, standing in front of a house smashed in two by a fallen coconut palm.
In Florida, the NHC said the storm was moving parallel to and just off the east coast before dawn today.
The big question was when and if it will hit the coast and how. A direct hit would have devastating impact, but a sideswiping blow could still be catastrophic.
Over the course of the day, Matthew could scour its way up a 600-mile (965-kilometer) strip of coast from Boca Raton in Florida to just north of Charleston, South Carolina, driving seawater and heavy rain inland.
Only a handful of hurricanes of this strength have ever made landfall in Florida, and none since 1898 has threatened to move its way north along the low-lying, densely populated coast into Georgia and beyond.
As the first bouts of heavy rain and powerful gusts arrived at seafront resorts presaging the storm beyond, more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Florida had lost power.
Evacuation orders were issued for areas covering some three million residents and major cities like Jacksonville, Florida and Savannah, Georgia lay in the path of the terrible storm.
Matthew has already battered Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas and US officials are taking no chances, warning that loss of life is a virtual certainty.
“This storm is a monster,” Florida’s Governor Rick Scott, said, adding:
I want everybody to survive this. We can rebuild homes. We can rebuild businesses … We can’t rebuild a life.
As of 11am Irish time, the storm was about 35 miles east of Cape Canaveral — about half way up the peninsula — which is home to the Kennedy Space Center. It was moving northwest at 14 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said.
South Florida, including Miami, was thus spared the worst of the storm after it took a slight turn to the north and east.
With reporting by © AFP 2016
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Took me over six months to get the domestic grant payment. I had to chase it up constantly and everything went into them perfect. I Still haven’t got the payment from Energis 10 months later. If I owed them money that long, I would have no electricity. Why is there no fine or punishment to them for sticking the fingers up to the rest of us?
As with most grant systems only certain registered companies can be used. Then these companies charge more normally to the value of the grant.
@Craic_a_tower: Unfortunately that’s what usually happens when government subsidises a scheme or service. Suppliers take the P***. Happened years ago when government introduced a grant for central heating. Central heating installation went up by 2 grand over night.
Same with HAP. That has also driven rents up (as government won’t build):
@Fr. Fintan Stack: don’t agree on HAP and most landlords don’t and never wanted it hence they made it illegal to refuse
@Craic_a_tower: “don’t agree on HAP” – ??
So what are you saying? HAP hasn’t contributed to greed?
There’s no grant for a new build unfortunately which doesn’t make a huge pile of sense to me anyway. Will need to go without for now and hope to get them further down the road. If anyone knows any way around this, I’d love to hear.
Problem is the rip off sales people. Quoting people for things they don’t need, won’t work.
Also the price difference from different installers can’t be doubled for the same system.
I was luckily enough to get 7panels(2.5kw) for €2500 after the grant early last year. Price is almost doubled now. I’m going to DIY 4 or maybe 8 onto the shed roof next month ad seems the only affordable way at the moment.
There is a good thread on boards.ie i woild suggest anyone thinking of investing to read/post thete before committing to a purchase
@pkunzip doom2.zip: The quote I was given was 9k for mine, when I got my ducks in a row 2 months later it was 23.
@pkunzip doom2.zip: you’re right, a friend of mine, a carpenter, was quoted €15000 after the grant. He bought the panel and system from a company in Northern Iteland and installed the panels, the inverter, and cabling himself and got an electrician in to wire it up and certified it all for around the €7500 mark. Companies are ripping customers off.
I got solar panels 3 years ago and was assured I would qualify for grant. Assessor came out and said house was up to ber standard. Next day got call to say it wasn’t unless I provided information and rating for installed windows. Company I used for all new windows had gone out of business. It’s a joke.
Will housing trusts and country councils be installing panels on houses? If not why not?
@Mary Fitzsimons: they have been upgrade council owned property for years at no charge to the residents. It actually seems unfair on the neighbours who bought their properties from the council. As for trusts they are charities who try to house as many people they can but you seem to think they should provide better than people buying their own property.
Sun Arc Solar Systems do the majority of the grant work for the homeowner, I had my grant back in 6 weeks after the installation from this company.
@Charmaine ☘ Irish: Thing is, say for me as an example is the money you have to pay for the job. I wouldn’t be able to get a loan at my age to upgrade my home. Unless you have the money first go then it’s a non runner for a lot I’d imagine.
@Dave Barrett: yes, I get what your saying, if anyone had the money, it makes sense to get it as the money you have in the bank account or under the mattress wouldn’t give the same return as solar power.. it is a really sound investment.. but if your of a certain age, maybe idly might not make sense
I went with Activ8 and they did all the paper, they reduced the cost I paid them by the amount of the grant. I didn’t have to do a single thing
Overall the grant needs to be more or remove the vat from it
Like Charmaine I had my grant back in 8 weeks and the installer JM Energi Ballingeary did everything connected to the grant
I got my solar PV a year ago and the grant process was all online and almost all of it was done by the contractor, nice and simple. I put in a heat pump 6 months ago and the process was all by paper and post, involving me sending parts of forms to different people to fill in their bit and then have to wait for them to come back and send on to the next person, before collating it all to send onto SEAI. All very time consuming, slow and tedious. I don’t understand why they have different systems for different grants.
The worst part isn’t the grant process, it’s trying to get a contractor. It’s like they are interviewing the customers and deciding if you are worthy of their time. I feel sorry for anyone that has a non standard installation, as they will find very hard to get a contractor.
It’s the overall cost that is putting people off
From a domestic point of view I found it very easy and efficient. I applied and the same day they got back to me saying it was approved. Then 3 weeks after the installer sent in their paperwork the grant was paid into my account.
I got my solar PV a year ago and the grant process was all online and almost all of it was done by the contractor, nice and simple. I put in a heatpump 6 months ago and the process was all by paper and post, involving me sending parts of forms to different people to fill in their bit and then have to wait for them to come back and send on to the next person, before collating it all to send onto SEAI. All very time consuming, slow and tedious. I don’t understand why they have different systems for different grants.
The worst part isn’t the grant process, it’s trying to get a contractor. It’s like they are interviewing the customers and deciding if you are worthy of their time. I feel sorry for anyone that has a non standard installation, as they will find very hard to get a contractor.
I refurbished an old house and filled all the forms for SEAI , got BER, technical assessment fully compliant registered contractor as required. Spent €€€€ on roof, walls, floor, heat pump. Still waiting for ‘Michelle’ in SEAI to deal with my claim ……..! Complete waste of time !
This could be solved by a process that allowed the householder to sign the grant over to the installer, with a robust auditing process and the use of approved installers. That process works in other areas.
If every building had wind/solar… hmmm
have your say