Solidarity

In the late evening of Saturday, September 6, the first rains from Hurricane Ike began to fall on Gonaïves, a city still sitting in the waters left by Hurricane Hanna. The storm continued through most of the night, intensifying just after midnight. The peals of thunder, resembling the roar of jet engines, and the clatter of wind-driven rain on tin roofs, resembling the steady hum of helicopter blades, created the atmosphere of a war scene. Occasional flashes of lightning in the black skies offered the residents of Michel Morisset’s house their only glimpse of the rising water in the yard.

By daylight, the rain had slowed, although occasional outbursts continued throughout the morning. All day, the home’s residents watched the floodwaters slowly but steadily creep across the yard. By late afternoon, the waters had settled, encircling the house but not high enough to enter the house.

Early last week, the local people compared Hanna to Jeanne, a 2004 hurricane that inundated Gonaïves, but now everyone agrees there is no comparison. The combined effect of Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike has torn the entire nation apart. Reports of flooding in Port-au-Prince and a half dozen fallen bridges along the national highway mean that aid will be needed far beyond Gonaïves.

“National solidarity,” said one woman. “That’s what we need or our country will disappear.”

On Sunday evening, the residents of Pastor Morisset’s home gathered in the courtyard, an open-air space surrounded by the walls of the house on three sides and open to the front yard on the fourth. Some sat in chairs on the cement porch that runs along two sides of the courtyard, elevated a few inches above the floodwaters. Others sat on the concrete steps that run down the third wall of the house. Still others sat in the living room overlooking the courtyard.

They raised their voices in song and prayer while the wind gusted around the house, sending ripples across the water in the yard. The strumming of a guitar accompanied the voices, and a single candle flickering in the wind lit the scene. Late into the night, the people gave thanks for their safety and asked strength for the coming days.