Montreal family awaits news from Haiti in wake of Hurricane Matthew
Haitian Montrealers' contact with relatives back home has been completely cut off
Haitian Montrealer Nirka Lamur recently found out that she lost two family members back home in Haiti to Hurricane Matthew, but she doesn't know exactly who they are.
"Based on the where the house was located... it is her family," said Lamur's daughter, Linda Jeune. "But as to who it is, we don't know exactly and we won't know until there's communication."
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Contact with the family's home village near Port Salut has been completely cut off, but they have heard the entire area was decimated by the storm.
"We heard they were trying to hide, and they went under their bed and their house just collapsed on them," said Jeune.
The Caribbean nation's fatality count has risen to nearly 900 with many more missing, in the wake of the hurricane. The storm has continued its march north along the eastern coast of the United States.
The devastation of the hurricane came as a shock to the Haitian Montrealers, many of whom haven't been able to reach their families.
"Nobody expected it to be that bad," Jeune said.
Not expecting to find the same place
While they wait for news, the family is worried about what kind of funeral arrangements their loved ones can expect.
"It's worrisome," Lamur said. "There's no morgue, there's no electricity, nothing."
Lamur and her daughter moved to Montreal 35 years ago, but still consider Haiti to be their home and return to visit it regularly.
They have friends and family in Haiti, as well as a group of children that Lamur has taken under her wing. She brings them school supplies and food, and helps them as best she can when she makes her annual trip home.
"I am very close with these children, these kids are a part of my life," she said.
After the storm ravaged the southwest of the country, Lamur was relieved to find out the children survived, even though they don't have access to essential services or, in some cases, shelter.
"They don't have a home, but they're alive," she said.
Both mother and daughter hope to return to Haiti soon as possible to help but they aren't expecting to find the same place when they return.
"It's going to feel different this time," said Jeune. "The joy we used to have, when you go there, when you first get there, is not there anymore so now it's really all about people."
With files from Simon Nakonechny