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Local Haitian woman working to help loved ones after earthquake

provided by Florence Lissande

As Haiti is enduring a tropical storm days after a cataclysmic earthquake, one local Haitian woman is working to ensure the safety of her family and friends there.

Pittsford resident Florence Lissade is from Léogâne, a city on Haiti’s southern coast. 

In 2010, her hometown suffered catastrophic damage in the historic 7.0 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter of Saturday's 7.2 magnitude quake was an hour west of there. 

More than 1,900 people have died, and more than 9,900 people were injured in the recent quake, according to officials in Haiti.

Lissade’s been in touch with friends and relatives in Haiti's southwest region, which received the brunt of the quake. They’ve been dealing with aftershocks that threaten to topple buildings and a tropical storm.

“This morning I spoke to some of them, and it’s raining bad,” Lissade said Tuesday. “They are sleeping outside under the rain. You know, they’re afraid to go inside their house -- those that are fortunate enough their house didn’t collapse.”

Credit provided by Florence Lissande
Still of cellphone video shared after the 7.2M earthquake struck the southwest of Haiti.

In one video sent to her, a man shows buildings reduced to rubble, a haze of dust is in the air, and silhouettes of a few people are in the near distance.

"The number of houses I see destroyed is equivalent to what I saw (11 years ago)," the man says in the video. “What I did is run and stand in front of a house that had already collapsed because I know it can't break even more.”

After the 2010 quake, millions of dollars were donated to humanitarian groups like the Red Cross, but little ultimately reached the Haitian people.

Aid to Haiti has been probed for years. Scrutiny intensified in 2015 when an investigation from ProPublica and NPR questioned where $500 million raised by the American Red Cross was spent.

“One issue that has hindered the Red Cross’ work in Haiti is an overreliance on foreigners who could not speak French or Creole, current and former employees say,” the joint report stated.

The Red Cross said in a statement that it is not seeking donations for Haiti relief at this time, but will work with its partners — including the Haitian Red Cross and the Red Crescent — to respond to the earthquake. It also disputed the ProPublica/NPR findings.

Lissade said she’s working to send them money for food, but the kind of support the people of the country need is far more extensive.

Now with the heightened political instability, including the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise last month, Lissade’s not optimistic that aid will get to the people who need it most.

“The people … are very, very respectful and very resistant, ready to learn -- but they don’t have the opportunity,” she said.

Includes reporting from The Associated Press.

Noelle E. C. Evans is WXXI's Murrow Award-winning Education reporter/producer.