Haitian Montrealers scramble to send relief following earthquake

Montrealers with roots in Haiti say they are numb with worry.

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake devastated part of the nation Aug. 14 and they fear things could get much worse before they’re able to do anything.  Tropical depression Grace also began ripping through the island Monday and they fear what will happen.

Montreal-based physician Jean-Felix Duval from Les Cayes, Haiti, one of the areas worst hit by the quake, worries for his low-lying town.

“It’s at the level of the sea,” he told Global News from his Montreal North clinic.

He said storm surges could cause devastating floods in the town, and he hasn’t been able to reach his family in the town since the quake hit.

“It’s been impossible to reach them,” he pointed out, explaining that communications in that part of the island has been difficult.

The physician is president of the Les Cayes Association of Montreal, one of the Montreal Haitian organizations now trying to coordinate emergency relief.

Some community leaders are suggesting that the public send money to organizations like the Canadian Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders because these groups have the resources to mobilize emergency aid immediately.

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Officials from community groups, though, like Les Cayes Association of Montreal, Solidarité Québec-Haïti and others from Montreal to the United States, who are coordinating their aid efforts, say people can donate to them as well since they have a direct link to the people on the ground in Haiti.

“People are desperate for food, for shelter and medicine,” Duval explained.

The Montreal groups are also hoping the Canadian authorities will help, not just with cash.

“The federal and provincial governments can help,” Marjorie Villefranche, executive director for Montreal community group Maison d’Haïti, stressed.

“There’s a lot of Haitians waiting for their visa.”

She wants those applications fast-tracked as well as allowing Haitians in Canada to sponsor family members in Haiti left homeless by the disaster.

Global Affairs Canada officials say they’re assessing the situation and will help as needed.

In the meantime, as the unfolding tragedy in Haiti brings flashbacks of the 2010 quake in which around 200,000 people perished, Haitian Montrealers hope help can get to their loved ones before too long.