Haiti’s earthquake and its aftermath will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the greatest catastrophes of this century.
However, the failure of the United States and U.S. aid organizations to learn from past experiences has only exacerbated the calamity.
The past decade has already seen two great natural disasters: the tsunami in 2004 and, much closer to home, the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In all three cases, a natural disaster struck an urban center and, due to an inadequate response, many people survived the initial destruction only to die in the aftermath.
As with Hurricane Katrina, relief forces were tragically slow to arrive. The days immediately following a disaster are the most crucial and, regrettably, often without the most basic aid. Much like New Orleans, on the sixth day after the disaster, people were still being pulled from the rubble of a destroyed Port-Au-Prince.
Granted, the earthquake in Haiti is a tragedy on a scale unmatched by Katrina. However, the point remains the same. Immediately following a natural disaster, any and all available resources, including members of the armed forces, need to be sent to the disaster area. Human life will not wait for a belated response.
Secondly, aid material is in short supply. Many people are dying, or becoming amputees, because of a lack of the most basic medicines. People are dying from a lack of clean water and nutrition. The resources exist to mitigate this problem, but where are they?
Another huge problem facing Haiti is the looting and violence that quickly appeared. In any collapse of authority, there will be people willing to violently take advantage of the situation. We saw it here, in the Superdome, after the storm; we saw it in Haiti when Anderson Cooper, on camera, stopped a small boy from getting beaten to death for a scrap of food.
Lastly, there is the problem of’ the lack of effective leadership.’ In New Orleans, this manifested itself in the form of a petty, responsibility dodging triumvirate of Mayor Ray Nagin, Governor Kathleen Blanco and President George Bush.
In Haiti, the local leadership is virtually non-existent. Even former Prime Minister Pierre-Lewis’ was quoted as saying that the Haitian government, ineffectual at normal times, is completely useless when faced with this disaster. For their part, no foreign government is willing to take responsibility for what is sure to be a hugely expensive and long-term rebuilding.
After Katrina, a lack of leadership resulted in unnecessary deaths and immeasurable suffering.’ In Haiti, the cost will be far worse.’ There is not organization or collaboration to what has so far been haphazard, if well intentioned aid. Help was, and is, slow to come.’ Ports have bottle necked and supplies sit, ready to be brought ashore for desperate people.
Without strong leadership, an efficient and effective reconstruction is impossible.’ As we have seen in New Orleans, without leadership, aid efforts will largely fizzle out over time, leaving nothing but stop-gap measures in place.
We also know that nothing could be more damaging to relief and rebuilding efforts, public morale, and the longevity of the outpouring of public support. The solution to this problem is relatively simple and was, unfortunately, only implemented belatedly here in New Orleans.
The Haitian government, if possible, and supporting nations need to move troops into the cities to keep order – and not just a few troops, as was initially done here, but enough to do the job. Experience tells us that if resources are available it is easier and less violent to maintain order than it is to restore it.
We in New Orleans are closer to Haiti, geographically, than we are to New York. We also share an experience that Americans outside of this area – Americans in Washington, New York, Los Angeles or anywhere else – cannot even begin to imagine. Having struggled through a similar tragedy, we need to stand in solidarity with our neighbors in Haiti.’
As such, it is our responsibility that the same mistakes that killed our fellow New Orleanians and hobbled our recovery are not repeated in Haiti. How to do so remains to be seen; however, we can be sure that nothing will change if the same mistakes are made and allowed to go unnoticed.
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