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AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery
World News

Haiti Hurricane Matthew survivors trawl through rubble to attend church

by Hannah Tooley

At least 900 people have died after the storm tore through the poorest Caribbean nation with tens of thousands of homes obliterated.

On Sunday, families packed what remained of the churches and many sat in pews under open sky because the hurricane had ripped away roofs and even walls.

At least one church was so badly damaged that worshipers set up an altar and prayed outside.

AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery

Elise Pierre, 80, said she believed it was a divine miracle that she and her loved ones survived.

"If God wasn't protecting us we'd all be gone today, blown into the ocean or up into the mountains," said Ms Pierre.

She sustained a wound on her forehead when her sheet metal roof collapsed during the storm.

AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery

The first two cargo planes of humanitarian aid from the United States arrived on Saturday in the capital, and three more are due in the next few days.

However, there are difficulties in getting aid to the needy and many of the villages in the south-western peninsula, an area badly affected by the hurricane, are difficult to reach.

Government officials estimate that at least 350,000 people need assistance, and concern is growing over an increase in cholera cases following widespread flooding.

An on-going cholera outbreak has already killed roughly 10,000 people and left more than 800,000 unwell since 2010.

 
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