On the Issues: Haiti Hit by Hurricane Tomas
Robert Perito, director of USIP's Initiative on Security Sector Governance under the Centers of Innovation, discusses recent developments in Haiti, and the challenges facing the country moving forward.
November 4, 2010
Robert Perito, director of USIP's Initiative on Security Sector Governance under the Centers of Innovation, discusses recent developments in Haiti, and the challenges facing the country moving forward.
- Officials this week are warning that tropical storm Tomas could turn into a hurricane by the time it reaches Haiti. Given that Haiti is struggling to recover from January’s devastating earthquake, is the country prepared to deal with a hurricane? What kind of impact could a hurricane have on Haiti at this point?
- On top of these challenges, Haiti is also struggling with a cholera outbreak. How does the outbreak affect the situation in Haiti regarding aid distribution and rebuilding efforts? What is the reaction of the local population to the disease?
- What is the status of Haiti’s reconstruction, especially as the country prepares to hold national elections later this month?
- How can the international community assist Haiti to deal with these major challenges?
Officials this week are warning that tropical storm Tomas could turn into a hurricane by the time it reaches Haiti. Given that Haiti is struggling to recover from January’s devastating earthquake, is the country prepared to deal with a hurricane? What kind of impact could a hurricane have on Haiti at this point?
The National Hurricane Center in Miami has issued a hurricane warning for Haiti for Tomas, a major storm that is gathering strength as it heads toward the island. In the capital, Port-au-Prince, roughly 1.3 million people remain homeless after the earthquake in January. Haitian officials have urged residents of the city’s tent encampments to move to safer areas, but there are no storm shelters and most people have no place to go.
Haiti has a history of hurricane disasters. In September 2008, four storms hit Haiti, causing 800 deaths and more than $1 billion in damages. Haiti’s capital remains in ruins and its residents are virtually on their own.
Making matters worse, the hurricane threatens areas of Haiti which were not affected by the earthquake. The most vulnerable areas are Haiti’s second and third most important cities, Gonaives and Cap-Haitien, where former Port-au-Prince residents had sought refuge after the earthquake. These cities have little capacity to protect against the type of flash floods and mudslides that buried portions of Gonaives in 2008.
On top of these challenges, Haiti is also struggling with a cholera outbreak. How does the outbreak affect the situation in Haiti regarding aid distribution and rebuilding efforts? What is the reaction of the local population to the disease?
The storm threatens to overwhelm efforts to control the current cholera epidemic which was centered in the rural Artibonite and Central Plateau regions. The disease has already claimed more than 400 lives and there are over 6,000 reported cases.
Cholera is spread through contaminated drinking water and thrives in unsanitary conditions. Health workers have tried to educate Haitian about the disease, stressing the need for attention to hygiene. In the likely chaos created by the impact of Tomas, Haitians will not be able to boil water, nor will health workers be able to reach most of those in need of care.
What is the status of Haiti’s reconstruction, especially as the country prepares to hold national elections later this month?
Recovery and reconstruction in Haiti have slowed to a crawl. The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission has approved more than $2.4 billion in projects, but international donors have been slow to provide funding. The Multi-Donor Trust Fund, which is administered by the World Bank, has awarded few contracts. The U.S. government has drafted a plan for spending the $2.9 billion for Haiti contained in the congressional supplemental funding bill, but consultations are still underway with Congress on how the money will be spent. Meanwhile, emergency response assistance -- food, water and medical care -- continue to reach Haiti – yet the need is extensive since more than a million people still live in tent encampments. Rubble clogs the government district and residential areas of the capital. These conditions render the country all the more vulnerable to epidemics and natural disasters.
Haiti’s recovery has been impacted by the need to hold national elections this month for president and the parliament. There are 19 presidential candidates. None has established front-runner status. It is unlikely that any candidate will get the 51 percent of the vote for an outright win and there will likely be a runoff election in mid-January. So far, there has not been the type of election-related violence that previously plagued Haiti. However, a contested runoff election could provoke conflict among Haitians already frustrated by the slow pace of recovery.
President René Préval has said the cholera epidemic could result in postponing the elections, currently set for November 28. This decision could also depend on the extent of storm damage from Tomas.
How can the international community assist Haiti to deal with these major challenges?
At a March United Nations conference, international donors pledged $5.3 billion for Haitian recovery. At the same time international medical and aid workers poured into Haiti. The results of these promises and indications of good intentions have been minimal. Conditions in Port-au-Prince have changed little since the first month following the earthquake.
Prior to the cholera outbreak, Haiti had been free of epidemics, starvation, and generalized violence. However, this situation could change with arrival of Tomas and the growing frustrations of Haitians over the inability of their government to provide for their welfare. The international community needs to quicken the pace of recovery to provide visible, tangible indications of progress. Most importantly, it needs to begin to resettle residents of the tent encampments into transitional housing that can provide protection, privacy and sanitary conditions. Haiti’s dry season is approaching. It will provide an opportunity to move forward on several fronts so that current conditions will not exist when the hurricane season begins again in June.
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