As hurricane Matthew hits Haiti Valley residents with loved ones there doing what they can to help

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- As hurricane Matthew continues to move there is a trail of destruction in Haiti. It's being called the worst humanitarian crisis since the earthquake of 2010.

When hurricane Matthew hit Haiti it killed people, destroyed homes, and pummeled farms. In the wake of the storm tens of thousands of Haitians were without power and the main artery-- a bridge connecting the capital to much-needed food was washed away.

The southern part of the country is in shambles-- a disaster zone, Joseph "Jony" Charles used to call home.

"Last night, I didn't sleep well."

Charles lives in Fresno but he has family in Haiti. In fact, he said his uncle had a close call when boulders came crashing down on his roof.

"If it wasn't for his children who rescued him, I dunno-- we probably would be talking about a funeral."

Charles has also been in close contact with his sister. She is sheltering people in her home-- just a fraction of those who need help.

It's a scene Gina Wathen of Clovis is all too familiar with. She and her husband, Richard, have been helping Haiti rebuild since the 2010 earthquake and he is there now, on a mission to build an elementary school.

"I kept calling, thinking of the worst and he would say, 'no it's raining, it's windy but we're ok.'"

Richard was 150 miles away from the eye of the storm and is set to return to Fresno on Saturday. In the meantime, Wathen is putting the word out to collect donations through ChristianFriendshipMinistries.org.

"We may be channeling some of those funds to these hardest hit areas."

In those hardest hit areas, Charles said, there are many without food and nowhere to go.

"You're talking about people who will go without anything to eat pretty much for a while, for a long time."