'Heartbroken' Florida town has ties to Haiti's quake zone

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Not agelong aft a almighty earthquake struck his Haitian hometown, Osambert Jean started receiving calls from dozens of friends who besides emigrated from southwestern Haiti to settee successful this South Florida suburb nestled betwixt the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades.

“Each 1 of them has atrocious news: My household is injured oregon my location collapsed,” said Jean, a Haitian-born security cause successful Boynton Beach whose member lives successful Les Cayes, Haiti. “People mislaid everything — everything.”

The suburb southbound of West Palm Beach holds heavy ties to Les Cayes, a municipality successful southwest Haiti hard deed by Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake, which has killed 1,941 radical and injured 9,900 others.

Many residents present person been disquieted astir their loved ones. Some are already mourning cousins and uncles who died portion officials are trying to measure the needs, rallying the coastal municipality successful the alleviation effort.

In the past decade, Boynton Beach has grown its Haitian colonisation acold from Miami’s Little Haiti and established a concern with Les Cayes by welcoming officials, including a erstwhile politician who was recovered dormant nether the rubble of a edifice that collapsed successful the earthquake.

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“This is thing that is personal. We cognize immoderate of these people. We person interacted with them. For me, this is my family,” said Christina Romelus, a metropolis commissioner of Haitian descent, whose hubby mislaid 3 relatives successful the earthquake. “You are seeing that feeling of ‘there’s nary wherever to spell now. Home is destroyed. Home is gone.’”

The metropolis has acceptable up a donation halfway astatine the downtown occurrence station, wherever radical person been dropping disconnected aesculapian supplies, idiosyncratic protective instrumentality and tents.

Boynton Beach nonmigratory Cosy Joseph is flying to Les Cayes connected Thursday to instrumentality immoderate supplies to a agrarian session overseen by the nonprofit she runs, the Gaskov Clerge Foundation. But she says she is besides checking connected her 88-year-old begetter and inspecting her puerility home.

Joseph said she could not slumber Monday nighttime aft seeing images of children and aged radical lasting extracurricular successful the rainfall arsenic Tropical Storm Grace battered the portion the quake struck.

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“It was achy to watch,” Joseph said. “We are devastated and heartbroken. I had zero sleep. I conscionable couldn't."

Joseph has been instrumental successful keeping the sister metropolis concern betwixt the Florida and Haitian coastal towns. Mayors and officials person traveled to Les Cayes astatine slightest 4 times since 2012. Boynton Beach Mayor Steven Grant said the latest travel successful 2018 progressive perchance partnering with different diplomatic ngo to enactment connected an vigor instauration project. Joseph has joined 2 of the 4 trips.

More than fractional of the 1.08 cardinal Haitians successful the U.S. unrecorded successful Florida. Palm Beach, location to Boynton Beach, has a sizable 100,000 radical of Haitian origin, compared with Miami-Dade's 140,000, according to the American Community Survey. Haitian churches and restaurants are spotted among the thenar tree-lined boulevards.

One of these churches is headed by pastor Jean Bilbalo Joint, who is besides primitively from Les Cayes. Joint said astir 400 members of his religion be services successful Haitian Creole and the bulk are from southwest Haiti.

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“It’s precise bittersweet this time,” helium said. “People request a batch of help.”

Organizations successful Miami's Little Haiti are besides raising funds and asking for donations of camping gear. Some person besides seen idiosyncratic losses successful the astir caller earthquake.

Reginald Jean-Mary, a pastor of Notre Dame d’Haiti Catholic Church, said his cousin, who is besides a pastor, was officiating a baptism successful the Church of the Immaculate Conception successful the municipality of Les Anglais erstwhile the earthquake deed and helped propulsion radical from the rubble of the church. Since then, helium has learned of different members of his religion who person mislaid loved ones.

Jean-Mary said his homeland had not been capable to afloat retrieve from the 2010 earthquake and 2016's Hurricane Matthew. This earthquake struck conscionable aft a period aft the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

“It has been brutal blows. This is precise hard for the people, for the country," helium said. "We are radical of faith. We are radical of hope. But I person to inquire myself this question: Why?”

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