The Americas

Hurricane Matthew relief effort in Haiti enters new phase

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Dumanoir Poison harvests rice from his flooded field in hopes of salvaging a small fraction of his spoiled crop, near Les Cayes, Haiti, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. Hurricane Matthew's winds uprooted coconut trees, shattered banana plantations and flattened vegetable fields across the southwest. In some coastal towns, flooding even carried away livestock. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (The Associated Press)

U.S. military troops load bags of rice for Hurricane Matthew relief into a helicopter at the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. The U.N. humanitarian agency in Geneva has made an emergency appeal for nearly $120 million in aid, saying that about three-quarters of a million people in southwest Haiti alone will need "life-saving assistance and protection" in the next three months. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (The Associated Press)

A U.S. military helicopter takes off carrying bags of rice for Hurricane Matthew relief, from the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. The U.N. humanitarian agency in Geneva has made an emergency appeal for nearly $120 million in aid, saying that about three-quarters of a million people in southwest Haiti alone will need "life-saving assistance and protection" in the next three months. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (The Associated Press)

An international relief effort for victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti is entering a more advanced stage.

A second U.S. military ship arrived offshore Thursday to help with relief efforts from a storm that the Haitian government says killed nearly 500 people. U.N. convoys and non-government organizations are also now reaching some previously cut-off communities in the ruggedly scenic southwestern peninsula.

U.S. Agency for International Development official David Harden said Thursday that helicopters brought 159 metric tons of food to hard-to-reach areas the day before.

The storm that roared across southern Haiti a little over a week ago has posed particular challenges because of its scope and the fact that the storm cut off many communities.

Many people say they have not received any help at all.