Disaster

A violent 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador last Sunday morning. The death toll has soared to 272 and Vice President Jorge Glas had estimated that more than 2,527 people were injured. There have been reports of extensive damage in the southwest of the country such as Guayaquil and coastal Manabi Province where it is hard to reach the victims. The cities of Manta, Portoviejo and Pedernales were the most devastation but he entire country is affected.

There is a large Haitian community living in Ecuador and some of them are expected to be among the victims of this 7.8 magnitude earthquake. According to the most recent estimates, more than 30,000 Haitians are living in Ecuador. So far, not many relatives and friends have heard about them.

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We learned that a gas tanker that was on its way to the city of Leogane exploded and burned several cars. The accident took place on Wednesday, April 13 around 5:00pm in the National route Number 2. This is the second tanker accident in just a few weeks. Recently, a Total gas station in Hinche was engulfed in flames, killing several individuals and burning down 3 vehicles.

By the way as a result of the torrential rain that fell on the city of Leogane between April 12 and 13, the city of Leogane is flooded as a result of the overflow of River Rouyonne

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On Monday, April 4, 2016, a major fire ravaged one of the oldest hotel-restaurants "Cubano" in the upscale hilltop suburb of Petionville overlooking Port-au-Prince. "Cubano", the twelve room hotel was renamed as 'The Perroquet' (The Parrot) in 2012 where regular concerts and parties for promotion of traditional Haitian culture were organized and which was an integral part of Petion-Ville's night life. The hotel was situated on a great location, very close to the market street of rue Lamarre and had a unique combination of careful protection, informed guidance and local style. It was an easy-going guesthouse in the heart of Petionville. After the fire, only the walls of 'Cubano' remain among the charred debris.

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A major fire took place in Petion-Vill today(April 4, 2016) causing major damages. According to some eyewitnessess, the fire started around 8:00am this morning inside a small Marche in Petion-Vill.It quickly moved and burned several houses in th area. We also the population received the help of the local firefighting unit in the area but it was not of much help. As you can see in this picture the population was transporting water from the fire fighting truck by bucket in a desperate attempt to bring the fire under control.

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According to Valery Numa of Radio Vision 2000, the Deputy of Delmas, Gary Bodeau said that all the Deputies in the Alliance Parliamentary bloc for Haiti have agreed to donate their salaries to help the victims of the recent gas station in Hinche. That includes salaries for two months(March and April) that will be donated to the hospital in Hinche

I would like to have some type of progress report on this

What do you think?

Depite Gary Bodeau ak alye di li ape fè don Mas ak Avril salè yo pou lopital nan Hinche

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On Thursday, March 17, 2016, at least 7 people were killed and 30 others were injured when a truck carrying fuel for Total Oil Company caught fire and exploded in the town of Hinche, located some 110 kilometers (65 miles) northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince. As per eyewitness reports, around 2:00 pm in the afternoon, the truck hit a wall and spilled fuel as it was going to unload oil to a Total Service fuel station. As some spilt oil came into the contact with the cooking food on a vendor's outdoor grill, an instant, ignited spark came back to the fuel loaded tank, and exploded. The burnt victims were taken to the area hospitals and to Port-au-Prince for treatment. About 30 people were burnt to varying degrees, including 6 seriously burnt and 7 people lost their lives in the flame. The gas station is located near the bridge Vincent on the National #1. An initial assessment suggests that 4 houses close to the gas station were burnt including several vehicles, one tank truck and more than twenty motorcycles.

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There are not too many family members left to mourn the death of eight people perished on the night between Sunday, December 20 and Monday, December 21, 2015 in a locality called Morne Dorima in the Port-de-Paix area. The Eight deaths are from a single family who perished when their home collapsed during a deluge. The family members who died include: Midline (20), Lickend (18 ), Erline(15), Jean-Herby (13), Masline (9), jameson (2), Peterlove (4), and Berlin (one). Only two people survived, a 8 day old child and her mother who have been hospitalized for injuries they received when the house collapsed.

Haitian Kreyol:

Kay tonbe, 8 manm yon sèl fanmi mouri

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As per news report dated December 17, 2015, the Washington-based financial institution 'Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)' which is one of the main long term economic financiers of the Latin America and the Caribbean, would provide US$42 million grant to Haiti to improve its watershed managements especially in the rural areas. With this fund Haiti will be able to increase its capacity to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change, especially in the agricultural sector and encounter the threats of losses due to floods and land erosion. It would be able to improve its water and sediment conservation in selected gullies of important watersheds particularly in some areas like Centre-Artibonite Loop and enhance the educational capacity of the Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine. Haiti's main four targeted projects suffer about $28 million loss, every year. Eighty percent of Haiti's land area is mountainous, only 28% of the land is arable or suitable for cultivation. Agriculture in Haiti is very closely linked to the climate factor which is again very much vulnerable to natural disasters because of Haiti's geographical location on the Caribbean cyclonic belt. Agriculture contributes 25% of Haitian GDP, 5.9% of total export, 71% rural employment and 47% overall employment of the country. IDB considers Haiti as one of the top countries in the index of highest natural disaster risk. Practically, as per the World Risk Index calculated by the United Nations University, Haiti is positioned on the 21st rank (with 11.88% disaster threat). Vanuatu tops the list of 172 countries with 36.43% threat.

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Li ape vini ak lapli ak loraj nan North an Ayiti. Pou jou sa yo (Desanm 1 a 3) Siklòn Joaquin pral vizite Ayiti. Ou ka espere tanzantan lapli ak loraj, espesyalman nan Nò, Nòdès, Nòdwès, Latibonit lan, Centre ak Grand Anse. Siklòn Joaquin kapab fè inondasyon, glisman teren ak glisman tè, slon Centre Nasyonal Meteyorolojik Ayiti.

English:

Hurricane Joaquin to dump rain with thunderstorms in North of Haiti

For the following days (December 1 to 3) Hurricane Joaquin will be visiting Haiti. You can expect Intermittent rain and scattered thunderstorms, specially in the North, Northeast, Northwest, Artibonite, Centre and Grand Anse.

Hurricane Joaquin can cause flooding, landslides and landslide, according to the National Meteorological Centre of Haiti.

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Disaster has become a big business. Antony Loewenstein, the best-selling journalist after travelling across Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan, Greece, Papua New Guinea, the United States, Britain, and Australia has witnessed the reality of disaster capitalism. He has discovered how big companies like G4S, Serco and Halliburton, private contractors, politicians and international aid agencies are cashing in on calamities. Antony Loewenstein is an independent Australian journalist, a Guardian columnist and also writes for the BBC, Nation and the Washington Post. In his recent book, "Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing out of Catastrophe." Loewenstein has raised the driving question and has given examples how governments and corporations profit from disaster.

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