Today tens of thousands of Haitians are trapped in the flooded city of Gonaives in a gruesome replay of what happened in Hurricane Jeanne in 2004. Unable to move because of flooding, many Haitians are trapped on building roofs without food or clean water. Relief convoys have been turned back at the approaches to the town as they reached the edge of impassible lakes of water or could not cross huge gullies washed in roads.

We pray for the people of Gonaive, just 20km down the road from our reforestation nursery in Gros Morne. We are gathering what aid we can from supporters here to transfer to our partners in Gros Morne to help in whatever way they can.

This disaster reiterates the need for bold action to reforest Haiti to stop mudslides and flooding, and the need for a massive investment in Haiti's environment and rural economy. Right now we must respond to the human disaster of the moment, but long term, our work to rebuild the web that protects us from such catastrophes must be prioritized.

News Stories Touching on Current Situation in Gonaives:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Haiti-Floods.html?hp
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/09/20089513354267406.html
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/09/05/hanna.html
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/09/05/ap5393279.html
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080905/NEWS07/80905043...
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKN9449968620080904?sp=true
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/05/haiti
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDm7lRAjdXWzCH-GDsdZvbReCqCAD9302EC80
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/09/20089419444715571.html