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Heavy rain threatens to complicate rescue efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti

16 August 2021
Dan Ackermann

Heavy rain from Tropical Depression Grace drenched Haiti on Monday, threatening to complicate rescue efforts following Saturday's earthquake that left at least 1,297 people dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Driving the news: Up to 15 inches of rain were expected in parts of the country, with officials bracing for possible flash floods and mudslides.

The big picture: The storm's arrival comes as the country continues to reel from Saturday's magnitude 7.2 earthquake, last month's assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, the coronavirus pandemic, extreme poverty and worsening violence.

  • Residents who lost their homes in the earthquake used sheets and sticks to erect makeshift tents on a soccer field in Les Cayes, per AP.
  • People continued to flood the country's already overwhelmed hospitals and clinics. At least 5,700 people were injured in the quake.
  • “We are saturated, and people keep coming in,” Michelet Paurus, a doctor at Les Cayes' general hospital told AP, adding that they were facing medication and supply shortages.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry declared a month-long state of emergency for the entire country, saying government aid was headed to destroyed towns and hospitals, per AP.

  • Aid workers must also contend with gangs who control some roads and towns, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
  • OCHA said on Monday that local authorities are negotiating access and six aid vehicles were able to reach affected areas on Sunday. Additional convoys would arrive on Monday.
  • "The health system in affected areas is being overwhelmed, as health workers are assisting the injured while also contending with the COVID-19 pandemic, OCHA added. "The number of COVID-19 patients is expected to increase in the coming days and weeks."

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.