On 4 October 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall in South West Haiti near Les Anglais as a very intense Category 4 Hurricane. It then crossed the department of Grande Anse provoking severe damage to road and Information and Communications Technology infrastructure, as well as housing and health facilities. Hurricane Matthew significantly impacted the country’s humanitarian situation, affecting 2.1 million people.
Although the Logistics Cluster was not activated, on 6 October 2016, the Global Logistics Cluster deployed a Logistics Response Team (LRT) to support the government-led Logistics Working Group in its relief efforts with logistics coordination, Information Management and facilitating access to common services.
Overall, the operation was found to be timely, relevant, effective and efficient in its response, and well received by the humanitarian community and participating partners. The deployment of an experienced and competent team in the early days of the hurricane was seen as a real strength as it allowed for close coordination between the Global Logistics Cluster team, WFP and the Government, resulting in a timely and effective humanitarian response. Substantial and fast support was also received from a variety of stakeholders (including local authorities, donors, and Global Logistics Cluster partners such as the International Humanitarian PartnershipIHP and the Logistics Emergency Teams (LET).