For Montreal's Haitian community, watching another natural disaster hit their homeland is hard.

Hundreds of people have been killed by Hurricane Matthew, and the number continues to grow.

Marjorie Villefrance, president of the Maison D'Haiti community centre, said the flooding was as bad or worse than predicted.

"The information we're getting is worse and worse, because we thought it wasn't so bad, but as we arrive in the regions we know it's worse than we were thinking," said Villefranche.

Community representatives are calling on people to make donations to the Red Cross, saying what the country needs is cash, and not donations of goods.

To that end governments are pledging help.

Global Affairs Canada said Friday the federal government will allocate $300,000 to Hurricane Matthew disaster relief in Haiti, with another $3 million for humanitarian aid.

The funds will go towards helping Haiti meet the health, water, sanitation and shelter needs of the 50,000 people affected by the storm.

The Canadian government also deployed the Canadian Disaster Assessment Team (CDAT) to Haiti on Thursday, to meet with officials and determine what the country needs in the immediate aftermath of the storm. The team's assessment is expected to take several days.

"The CDAT will rapidly assess the situation, which is a critical step in ensuring that a Canadian response to the hurricane is coordinated, evidence-based and tailored to the needs on the ground," a government press release said.

The team is made up of three experts from Global Affiars Canada and three officers from the Canadian Armed Forces.

Quebec's government has pledged $100,000 in emergency relief, money that will go to aid agencies that already have ties linking Quebec and Haiti.

"The images that we see bear witness to the devastating consequences of this hurricane. Our thoughts are with our Haitian friends," said International Relations Minister Christine St-Pierre.

Myrian Marotte of the Red Cross said the most basic needs are food and shelter.

"More than 1 million people were affected and the needs are really great for 353,000 people," she said. "We're distributing tablets to purify the water, tarpaulins to create temporary shelters, food, blankets everything that's needed for an emergency."

 

One of the largest obstacles in the days since the storm swept over the country is getting to remote locations where bridges and roads have been destroyed.

Radio host Marie-Dominique Fortuna learned her childhood home in Les Cayes no longer exists.

"Our house was washed away, taken away. The farm, everything, is gone. Everything is gone," said Fortuna.

Les Cayes was the last place in Haiti with any significant amount of trees. Through decades of unrest, amost all of Haiti's forests were cut down, leaving the country extremely vulnerable to erosion and landslides.

Once the emergency is over Haitians say they will rebuild, in a country that is still struggling after a massive earthquake in 2010.

Neil Armand is among those saying things will be different this time.

"There are a lot of regional associations that we basically put with the Red Cross that will be able to tell them what I'm hearing from my people on the ground and this is what he need so they can direct this," said Armand.

Montreal is also donating $60,000 to emergency relief, a move that is welcomed by Frantz Benjamin, a city councillor for St. Michel.

He said the Haitian community is grateful for the support they have already received.

"We are a resilient people. We are a resilient community," Benjamin said. "We know that we have friends all over the world and especially in Canada helping us." 

With files from Aalia Adams