Natural Disasters In Haiti

Natural disasters and human emergencies are recurring phenomenon’s that leave disastrous effects in their wake. On 12th January 2010, a major earthquake of a 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Haiti. The catastrophic quake centred about 15 miles South West of Port-au-Prince left considerable damage to a majority of towns in the country including the capital city. According to UN reports, of the total 9 million people in the country, the earthquake has affected half of the population. About 222, 570 confirmed dead, with the number of casualties ever increasing (Voigt et al., 2012). Aftershocks were also recorded after the earthquake that made the situation more complex. An assessment of the response in the wake of Haiti’s earthquake enables
The country is highly vulnerable to storms and hurricanes that tend to disrupt the already fragile infrastructure of the country. A number of explanations have been documented in an attempt to explain the vulnerability of the country, for example, poverty, inadequate infrastructure, deforestation and unstable political system. Furthermore, the lack of resources available to buffer against the effects of these disasters and lack of disaster preparedness has significantly affected the country. In 1980, 25% of the country’s forests existed. The dense tropical forest enabled the country to withstand the disastrous effects of Hurricane Emily; a category three storm. In 2004, only 1.4% of the forests remained, with the number decreasing at an alarming rate. Consequentially, deforestation has increased the devastation of tropical storms such as Jeanne and Gordon. In 2004, more than 2,600 people killed due to excessive flooding caused by the tropical storms (Kalayjian & Eugene,
As the world shifts its attention to other issues, the victims of the earthquake left to live in impoverished housing structures and other issues of poverty. Currently, cases of STD and HIV infections including gender issues and paediatric cases are significantly high. The vicious cycle of poverty seems to be continuous with no end in sight. I believe that the government efforts coupled with international assistance can significantly aid the country in disaster preparedness programmes. However, intervention strategies can fail due to the politics involved in the issue. The only way the country can benefit is if the government shifts its focus and its efforts towards facilitating the well-being of its people. The inaction and failure to act by the Haitian government and the international governments has resulted in a number of societal issues including health disparities such as disease