'Clean water is pivotal' for victims of Hurricane Matthew, aid agency warns

Hurricane Matthew has left a trail of destruction throughout the Caribbean nations of Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Aid agency CARE warns that casualty numbers may rise without the provision of fresh drinking water.

A man walks in a flooded street, in a neighbourhood of the commune of Cite Soleil, in the Haitian Capital Port-au-Prince Source: Getty

International aid organisation CARE is one of a number of groups which has set up an appeal for communities affected by Hurricane Matthew.

By Friday, the death toll has risen to 261 during its week-long march across the Caribbean.

Manager of CARE Australia’s emergency response unit, Adam Poulter, expects the casualties to rise even further.

He said donations would go towards CARE’s Global Emergency Response Fund to support vulnerable families in disasters.

He said extra emphasis needed to be placed on providing fresh drinking water and hygiene items to affected communities in Haiti, which suffered a devastating earthquake in 2010.

"The hurricane is hitting with ferocious winds and heavy rains, it’s effecting people who live in quite precarious positions," he told SBS.

In this NOAA handout image, taken by the GOES satellite at 1315 UTC shows Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean Sea heading towards Jamacia, Haiti and Cuba (Getty) Source: Getty

"Landslides are a very severe risk and what they need right now is clean water, hygiene items and support once it’s finished -  to rebuild their shelters.

"Clean water is pivotol. There is a cholera epidemic in Haiti, so unfortunately we are going to see the spreading of this disease.

"CARE Australia posts water experts around the world and this is a situation where it's very much needed."

Dubbed by the UN as the worst humanitarian crisis to hit Haiti since the earthquake, the Category Four hurricane unleashed torrential rain on the island of Hispaniola that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic.

Mr Poulter visited Haiti in the aftermath of the quake, and he said the current extreme weather would leave the communities he saw in dire straits.

"What I saw in 2010 was people living in very difficult conditions and most of the mountain sides are deforested," he said. 

"As soon as there are rains, as we are seeing now, you get floods. I saw that, but those were rains far less severe than what we're seeing now."

Several other aid agencies have mobilised teams to help in the hurricane's aftermath, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies who sent more than 3000 volunteers and workers to Haiti.

World Vision Australia and UNICEF have added to the aid efforts by sending volunteers to the region and also setting up online fundraising appeals.

Save the Children has deployed an emergency response team to work on the ground to help the children and families affected by the storm.

-With AAP and Reuters