Haiti

[methodistgirl]

Since there was an earthquake in this nation, I wonder what you
think of the situation. This sounds to me like another New Orleans
the way help is getting to it.
judy tooley

[wljmrbill]

agree..seems food and water must be able to get there somehow even if roads are blocked.. at least they now are getting helicopters in to help..maybe soldiers can carry some of it into the city... does seem it might be to late for many of the people without food and water to me.

[marval]

Yes Judy, I think you are right. I hope that the people are able to get the supplies they need.


Margaret

[Contratrombone64]

Judy - yes, unfortunately you are spot on. 50,000 dead, to horrendous to think about.

[Krummhorn]

Help is getting there ... I think part of the big problem is accessibility which has to come by sea or air. Make no mistake, it is a horrible number of lost lives, but this kind of disaster isn't preventable. Having lived for years right on the San Andreas fault line in Southern California, there were no warnings.

Seismic science must be an interesting field.

[Buttercup89]

I used to live on San Andreas Fault aswell.

Part of the problem with Haiti is that decades with corrupt government has made the country extremely unstable, they did not get a democratically chosen leader until 2004. The current government predicts that the number of dead will be somewhere between 100 and 200 thousand by the time all is over. Though it is impossible to tell, most think that the number of dead has surpassed 100 thousand already. Besides that the country is not too well off economically, I heard in the news here that the government has proudly stated that 500 thousand HTG (Haitian Gourde) have been raised within the country, now bear in mind that there are a bit less that 40 HTG per USD, that is really not a lot of money! (Its about 12.5 thousand USD, so about half the cost of one semester at Stanford University, unless admission fees have been much changed since I moved). Furthermore Haiti has next to no military to help, all but their coast guard having been demobilized.

Most charities in DK are accepting donations to help Haiti, they probably are in the US as well. It seems our money could go a long way to help them.

[greatcyber]

I agree about the horrible loss of life to an already devasted nation. There was a special on tv about how Japan has made many improvements for their population that live in earthquake zones, including building homes out of cardboard. They have come up with a process which makes pillars and building materials out of the cardboard and it is very flexible, yet sturdy and if it does collapse during a quake, at least the population is not killed. Maybe something like this can be imported to Haiti after the initial help, when rebuilding begins. My thoughts go out to everyone there.

[marval]

I think the Japanese have the right idea, let's hope it can be used in Haiti. They never seem to build homes that can withstand earthquakes like this.


Margaret

[Buttercup89]

It's a nice thought but I doubt Haiti will be able to afford it.

[methodistgirl]

With a lot of churches helping. My church has set up a fund for Haiti.
Maybe they can afford having this building material you are talking
about through some of the churches. My prayers still go out to those
people. One of the Methodist bishops were killed in one of the hotels
that collapsed during the earthquake that knows my church.
judy tooley

[Frederik Magle]

A terrible, terrible tragedy. The suffering the Haitians has experienced is unfathomable.

Also, unfathomable for us must be the feeling of being trapped for days, and even weeks, under collapsed buildings not knowing if help will arrive. Indeed, a girl has just been rescued after 15 days! That story is a bright spot in the unfolding tragedy, but one can't help think of all the people who were not so lucky.