(VNF) - Haiti faces a humanitarian crisis that requires a “massive response” from the international community, the United Nations chief said, with at least 1.4 million people needing emergency aid following last week’s battering by Hurricane Matthew.

The storm left at least 372 dead in the impoverished Caribbean nation, with the toll likely to rise sharply as rescue workers reach previously inaccessible areas.

Matthew leveled homes, fouled water sources and killed livestock, with victims pleading for help to arrive quickly.

A woman crosses a muddy street in downtown Port-au-Prince after Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti on October 4^th, bringing heavy rains and winds. (Photo: UN/MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi)

Haiti saw the rising death toll coupled with the start of the rainy season has prompted the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to sound the alarm on the threat of waterborne diseases to children living in the worst-affected areas.

The U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), on October 7^th, allocated USD 5 million in emergency funds to kick-start assistance in the wake of the deadly storm, following the release earlier in the week of a loan of eight million dollars to the UNICEF to scale up response to the worsening cholera epidemic in Haiti.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters here that the numbers of those impacted and the needs are growing as more affected areas are reached. Moreover, tensions are already mounting as people await help.

The U.N has launched a USD 120 million flash appeal to cover Haiti’s needs for the next three months.

“A massive response is required,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban told reporters.

“Some towns and villages have been almost wiped off the map. These numbers and needs are growing as more affected areas are reached.” He said.

The U.N.’s World Food Programme tapped into food stocks previously set aside for schools to feed hundreds of desperate families, spokesman Alexis Masciarelli said.

Twenty-fix more tons had been moved to Jeremie for distribution and more was on its way to Les Cayes, the other major city affected on the peninsula, he said.

American military helicopters were unloading boxes of supplies from the United States Agency for International Development to be stored by the U.N. in Jeremie before being taken to other parts of the south.

After pummeling Haiti on October 4^th as a monster Category 4 storm, packing winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour, Matthew slammed into the southeastern United States, where it killed at least 20 people./.

( Compiled by VNF )