Реферат: Hurricane Georges Essay Research Paper Hurricane GeorgesA

September, 1998, but the Haitian farmer, naked from the

waist up, thrashed them against

a rock in a cloud of dust to dislodge the under-ripe, dirty

- and precious – grains.

Throughout the Artibonite Valley in central Haiti – the

breadbasket of a nation that even

in good times can’t feed itself – floods unleashed by

Hurricane Georges devastated crops

almost ready for harvest. Haiti is the hemisphere’s poorest

country and could ill afford a

setback like this. Many people are undernourished, per

capita income is $250 a year and

life expectancy is among the world’s lowest 57 years. At

least 167 people were killed in

Haiti by Georges. Forty years ago, Fonds Verrettes

flourished at the foot of wooded

mountains, but farm incomes fell and impoverished peasants

cut down trees to make

charcoal. With no forest cover to absorb Georges’

torrential rains, storm runoff crashed

through the town, destroying dozens of homes and

buildings.In the village of Jean-Denis,

people boiled musty rice in huge cauldrons to try to make

it suitable for sale. Thousands

of subsistence farmers hacked away at their crops, trying

to harvest them before they rot.

Heavy rain in the mountains from Hurricane Georges

overwhelmed a hydroelectric dam

and sent a wave of water spilling into this eroded valley.