Haiti appeals for international aid for Sandy victims While the world's attention was fixed on storm Sandy's impact on the US, the hurricane-force winds had already left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean. On Haiti, more than 50 people died as swollen rivers burst their banks and landslides damaged natural habitats and an estimated 20,000 homes. The island's agriculture sector has already suffered from a long drought and had just taken a battering from Hurricane Isaac which hit the island in August. After Sandy, we have lost everything; our plantations, our livestock and some of us have lost our homes. We are trying to plant this rice that we have left again. But we don't have much hope that it will ever be harvested because we have heard that there are more storms ahead," said farmer Martin Yvener. Across the southern third of the island, the storm caused a widespread loss of crops and food prices have skyrocketed. One market seller, Carline Joseph said: "A cup of rice is selling at about 4 US dollars (3 euros). It used to sell for 2.50 (2 euros). We cannot get to another town to buy rice. We are crying out for help to get prices reduced. The flooding has also caused a spike in Cholera with around 300 suspected cases. With much of the population still living in makeshift shacks following the earthquake in 2010, the prime minister has launched a new appeal for international aid. More about: Agriculture, Food aid, Haiti, Humanitarian aid, Hurricanes, Natural catastrophe