Photojournalist Gideon Mendel reports on floods aftermaths in Haiti

Gonaives: A boy pauses for a moment as he works on cleaning the mud out of his flooded home, two weeks after it was flooded during Hurricanes Ike and Hanna. At this point much of the water, which had covered most houses in the town, had receded leaving the town struggling to deal with the remaining residue of thick, stinking mud. Hundreds of people are said to have died as the La Quinte river burst its banks and engulfed the city Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Gonaives: Miryam Jacques tries to bail muddy water out of family home. Two weeks earlier the entire city had been flooded during Hurricanes Ike and Hanna leaving her family in a dire situation. They lost everything and one of her sisters drowned in the disaster Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Gonaives: A view of the interior of a small dry cleaning business which is jammed with mud Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Decade: The house of Tibo Jean Fritzner in south-east Haiti is full of mud after being flooded and damaged by Hurricane Gustav. "We were very scared when the hurricane came. It was very windy ... There was so much noise – the wind, and people crying, people shouting and running in the street. Someone came to help my mother get away, and someone else helped me with the pigs and goats. So then we left the house and fled" Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Decade: Christa Raymond Fils and her husband Salomon Raymond Fils in south-east Haiti. "Every bit of furniture had been either ruined or carried away by the water. All we have now is a few clothes. The water took everything. All the houses round here were the same – full of water. As long as I’ve lived, I have never seen a hurricane like this one. In previous years we did have hurricanes, but this time we can’t even stay in our home any more" Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Beinet: Venante Antoine and her six children are part of a group of homeless and desperate hurricane victims at a temporary shelter in south-east Haiti. There were 69 families in this shelter who were about to be evicted. They had originally lost their homes a year earlier in Hurricane Dean, but had their new shacks destroyed again in Hurricane Gustav Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Hurricane victims carry food aid back to their homes in Coterelle in south-east Haiti. Most of them are peasant farmers in this mountainous region whose lives were destroyed by Hurricane Gustav, which destroyed many of their crops and animals along with flooding their houses. This distribution to needy families was organised by CROSE (a local partner of the international NGO, ActionAid) and the WFP Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Near Marigot: Kakoune Destine is a peasant farmer in the mountainous region in south-east Haiti. Her life was devastated as a result of Hurricane Gustav. Here she carries away some food aid, which was distributed to needy families in the region Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Savane Dubois: Young women wash carrots in the River Perdo in south-east Haiti. This was the location of a bridge, which was recently destroyed by Hurricane Gustav so people now have to struggle across it and it is too deep for vehicles to pass Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Savane Dubois: Maxo Santus pauses to face the camera for a moment while he tries to earn a little money working as an informal porter helping people cross the river Perdo Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Savane Dubois: A young girl waits for a porter to help her cross the river Perdo Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Bellair near Beinet: Dramatically damaged palm trees in south-east Haiti as a result of Hurricane Gustav. In the background is the damage to the landscape by the mudslides, which happened during the same hurricane. This view also shows the severe deforestation of these mountains for the production of charcoal. So during extreme rain conditions the ground does not hold the water, causing mudslides like this and flooding Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Kayobry, close to Beinet: Jacqueline Jean who is blind had her home destroyed by Hurricane Gustav. "The hurricane washed away my house and everything that was in it. The little place where I used to sleep, I can’t even use it any more. All my plates are gone.... I had to run in the rain, in all the water. And there was a lot of wind as well. It was the wind that destroyed my house, that blew the roof off and knocked the walls down" Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Kampanyol near Beintet: Edeline Simplice, aged 40, had her home destroyed. She and some of her nine children face the camera in the doorway of her house. "When the hurricane hit, I was in my house.... I had thought it was a pretty solid house, but it was completely destroyed. So I had to take the children and run to a safer place.... I had some land nearby too. I used to grow a few things. But now I don’t have anything. I can’t grow anything, I can’t buy any seeds..." Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Gonaives: An aerial view of the denuded landscape which was recently engulfed by floods during Hurricane Ike. This shows the erosion and damage to the landscape, with hillsides denuded of tree-cover, much of which is due to the uncontrolled production of charcoal Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Port au Prince: Charcoal is sold at a market on the streets of the capital city. The country had been suffering from severe flooding after facing four severe hurricanes within 20 days. The production of this charcoal has been identified as one of the key environmental factors making the country so vulnerable to flooding during these hurricanes Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Gonaives: Further rain falls on a flooded settlement in Savanne Desole on the outskirts of the city Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Gonaives: A photograph of a flood victim is itself fogged due to water damage to a camera. The camera had earlier fallen into floodwater (a tripod was knocked over) and humidity on the interior of the lens caused this effect. The photograph shows Adlene Pierre, aged 35, facing the camera in front of one of the windows of her flooded house in Savanne Desole on the outskirts of the city. She had lost most of her possessions Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Gonaives: A photograph of a city recovering from flooding is itself fogged due to water damage done to a camera. The photograph shows people struggling to walk through a mud engulfed street in the centre of town, two weeks after it was flooded Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Gonaives: A photograph of UN soldiers guarding a food distribution for flood victims is strangely double exposed due to damage done to the camera by floodwater. Guatemalan soldiers with riot gear who are part of MINUSTAH (the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti) provide security as hundreds of hungry people queue for food relief in the flooded city Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

Gonaives: Hundreds of hungry people queue for food relief in the flooded city, some of them reflected in the remaining floodwater Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis

An overloaded vehicle struggles through a junction in the centre of Gonaives, two weeks after it was flooded during Hurricanes Ike and Hanna Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis