Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, has been rocked by an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale. Various news organizations are reporting building collapses, including that of a hospital.
Communications in Port Au Prince, the capital of the island nation, are down. Just after the quake, and prior to land lines going down, CNN reported the following from Raymond Joseph; U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, “I think it is really a catastrophe of major proportions.”
Telegraph.co.uk is reports, “It was the largest earthquake to hit the impoverished country, since 1984. The vibrations lasted for more than a minute and were felt in Cuba. A hospital was reported to have collapsed in Petionville, near Port-au-Prince, and houses were said to have fallen into a ravine. Petionville is home to many foreign diplomats and members of a major United Nations mission to the country.”
Fox News , speaking to Joe Trimble; a Missionary in Haiti, says that “every other building” in Port Au Prince is flattened, or on the ground and that there is mayhem in the streets.
Immediately following the quake a Tsunami alert was issued for the Caribbean region including Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. Aftershocks in excess of 5.0 have continued to hit the island.
Seventy per cent of Haiti’s population lives on less than two dollars per day and half of its 8.5 million people are unemployed.
Nearly 800 Haitians died due to hurricanes that struck the island of Hispaniola. Those hurricanes destroyed buildings and crops and left much of Haiti under mud for months. The average Haitian earns less than $2 per day, and more than half of its 8 million plus citizens are unemployed.
Roads are gone, there is no 911 system. One of the greatest challenges facing the people of Haiti now is the delivery of aid to the estimated 2 million people affected by the earthquake.
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About John G. Winder
John G. Winder has spent 29 years in the broadcasting industry as an on-air report, General Manager and Executive in both radio & television.
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