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Geneva (AFP) Feb 9, 2010 Haiti's quake battered and greatly diminished weather service urgently needs help ahead of the flood and storm prone country's impending rainy season, the UN's weather agency said on Tuesday. "We feel there is absolutely no time to waste and it's very important to help Haiti to be as ready as possible," said World Meteorological Organisation Secretary General Michel Jarraud, referring to the National Meteorological Centre of Haiti. While the quake last month left some 200,000 dead and about one million homeless, 90 percent of Haiti's disasters, including floods and drought, are triggered by extreme climatic conditions, according to the WMO. The rainy season is looming in April and hurricanes are normally due from June. In 2008 Haiti was exceptionally struck by four hurricanes in succession. The WMO said the Caribbean nation's geographical vulnerability was amplified by deforestation in recent years, increasing the risk of mudslides and flooding. "It is something which is a major hazard in a normal situation but now the hazards will be even more important, because most buildings considered as potential shelters or resistant were destroyed or severely damaged," Jarraud told journalists in Geneva. Thousands of poor people in makeshift shantytowns on flood plains and coastal areas were also vulnerable, and adequate weather and evacuation warnings were needed, WMO officials warned. The earthquake devastated the national weather service's office in the capital Port-au-Prince, relegating some 21 meteorological specialists to a tent on the airport tarmac and disrupting a nationwide network of volunteers. "When there are floods and when there is a hurricane, a clear voice is needed saying 'this is an emergency and these are the actions to take'," said WMO development director Robert Masters. Essential weather forecasts for the country have been provided by Canada, neighbouring Dominican Republic, France and the United States since the quake struck on January 12. The WMO has also called on countries due to meet in a regional hurricane committee next month, as well as UN agencies, for longer term help. It estimated that about one million dollars in emergency aid was needed to prop up basic weather services within months, as well as another 15 million dollars in longer term aid.
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