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People walk on the damaged streets of Port-au-Prince following the massive earthquake - Source: Reuters -
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Haiti urgently needs $1 million to rebuild weather stations shattered by last month's earthquake, so it can warn the public if floods or hurricanes threaten in the coming months, the UN weather agency said.
Haiti, still reeling from a January 12 earthquake which killed more than 200,000 people and made 1.2 million others homeless, is prone to climate-related disasters including hurricanes, flash floods, mudslides and drought.
The rainy season begins in April and the hurricane season in June but last month's earthquake has destroyed many of the emergency shelters on the Caribbean island.
"There is absolutely no time to waste. It is very important to help Haiti to be as ready as possible," Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), told a news briefing.
"It is vital not only to minimise risks but to manage them via early warning systems so people can be evacuated," he said.
The homeless are highly vulnerable to hurricanes, whose high winds and heavy rains can trigger mudslides in the heavily deforested nation, especially near shantytowns along the southern coast, according to the WMO.
Haiti's meteorological services were barely operational before the quake and its staff are now working from a tent at Port-au-Prince airport after its premises were damaged.
It has no radar or functioning automated weather stations to collect data and the United States, Canada and the Dominican Republic are providing forecasts for air safety and aid operations, the Geneva-based agency WMO said.
It will cost $1 million to restore basic communications systems and automated weather stations, provide computers, back-up generators and train staff over the next year, it said.
Haiti previously relied heavily on television and other media to relay early warnings, according to Robert Masters, WMO director of development and regional activities.
"How do people get the information, the warnings if they don't have television, electricity or a house? There needs to be some kind of approach that makes sure people get warnings.
"In some areas we've used simple technologies, you get large sirens or you have people ride around on bicycles and make sure that they know something is happening," he said.
In all, the WMO says Haiti will need $15 million over the next three to four years to provide basic services such as forecasting and observation.
