Haiti hurricane victims lose hope of receiving aid

It's been two weeks since Hurricane Matthew devastated southern Haiti, but large parts of the impoverished country's third-largest city of Les Cayes remain a wasteland and many residents have stopped expecting to receive any help.

A coconut tree fell on Yolette Cazenor's small home in the storm's aftermath. A similar fate befell her neighbour Michel Donald. So far, a few pieces of sheet metal is all they have to rebuild.

"The sheet metal is to provide shade during the day," Donald explained. "Inside, we have a tarp as a ceiling and buckets on the bed" to catch rainwater, the 22-year-old said, adding that sleep has been elusive.

At least 546 people were killed and more than 175,000 people lost their homes when Matthew roared ashore on Oct 4, packing winds of 230 kilometres per hour.

The UN estimates at least 1.4 million people need urgent assistance. UN officials have expressed concern about looting attacks on aid trucks, which have been slow to reach the hardest-hit areas.

It's been two weeks of struggle for the victims in Les Cayes - downpours every evening force them to scramble to protect the few belongings they salvaged, which they dry in the sunshine before the rains come again.

Cazenor's husband works alone with a machete to cut off the branches of a large toppled mango tree.

Although trucks from neighbouring Dominican Republic are removing branches and other rubble piled on the main streets in the city centre, none has come to their neighborhood.