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PORT-AU-PRINCE. — Haiti faces a humanitarian crisis that requires a “massive response” from the international community, the United Nations chief said, with at least 1.4 million people needing emergency aid following last week’s battering by Hurricane Matthew.

Matthew levelled homes, fouled water sources and killed livestock, with victims pleading for help to arrive quickly.The UN has launched a $120 million flash appeal to cover Haiti’s needs for the next three months.

“A massive response is required,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters.“Some towns and villages have been almost wiped off the map,” he said.“These numbers and needs are growing as more affected areas are reached.”

After pummelling Haiti on October 4 as a monster Category 4 storm, packing winds of 230 kilometres per hour, Matthew slammed into the south-eastern United States, where it killed at least 20 people. In Haiti, more than 300 schools have been damaged, while crops and food reserves were destroyed, Ban said.

UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said the hurricane had triggered the worst humanitarian crisis in the country since the 2010 earthquake. The department of Grande Anse in Haiti’s southwest, which took a direct hit, was the most devastated area, with 198 dead, 97 injured and 99,400 people staying in temporary shelters.

More than 175 500 are in shelters elsewhere in the country. Damage to roads and communications has hamstrung deliveries of supplies.

“I understand of course the frustration,” Jean-Luc Poncelet, the country representative for the UN’s World Health Organisation, said after arriving at the airport outside Jeremie, one of the worst-hit cities. “When you have no means of communication, no radio, no telephone, no roads and even a helicopter can’t land — this is what explains the massive delay,” he told AFP. The UN’s World Food Programme tapped into food stocks previously set aside for schools to feed hundreds of desperate families, spokesman Alexis Masciarelli said. — AFP.