✅HAZARDS Case Study - Haiti Multihazardous

Question 1

Where is Haiti

Answer 1

Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. North of Colombia, South-East of Florida, USA.

Question 2

Haiti plate boundary, winds

Answer 2

The northern side of Haiti is on the border the Caribbean Plate and North American Plate. This plate boundary is a conservative boundary between an oceanic (Caribbean) plate and a continental (North American) plate.
Lies in the way of the trade winds, and main path of Atlantic hurricanes

Question 3

Haiti features/ topography

Answer 3

60 per cent of Haiti is mountainous and due to deforestation, landslides and mudslides are common.

Question 4

Haiti climate

Answer 4

Hot, humid. Therefore diseases spread easier, like Cholera

Question 5

Haiti population

Answer 5

12 million

Question 6

Haiti Economy

Answer 6

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and struggles to cope with most disasters. Over 6 million Haitians are below the poverty line of living on $2.41/ day.
It is densely populated around Port-au-Prince, the capital, around low-lying coast.

Question 7

What hazards is it susceptible to

Answer 7

Earthquakes, Epidemics, Storms, Drought, Floods, Landslides

Question 8

Frequency of storms

Answer 8

It is usually hit by four or five major hurricanes each year.
9 serious storms over last20 years affecting 3.5 million people and killing over 7000

Question 9

What year did Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricanes Gustav, Hannah and Ike occur (FGHI)

Answer 9

2008, within three weeks of each other

Question 10

FGHI impacts

Answer 10

793 deaths
25,000 homes destroyed
economic damages of $1bn (5% of the country’s GDP)
Floods after wiped out 70% of crops

Question 11

When was the major earthquake

Answer 11

Jan 12th 2010

Question 12

2010 Earthquake features

Answer 12

Magnitude 7
Epicentre 25km West of Capital, Port-au-Price
Shallow (13 km deep)

Question 13

2010 Earthquake impacts

Answer 13

Killed 222,000 people (lots of falling rubble).
Over 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed.
During UN’s assistance in rehabilitation, cholera spread, killing 10,000.

Question 14

Hazard Response

Answer 14

EQ reconstruction is still going on today
The National Disaster Risk Management System (NDRMS) was set up
Haiti received US$13 billion in foreign aid from the international community from 2011 to 2021.

Question 15

NDRMS’s goal

Answer 15

to transition from living at risk to living with risk approach to natural hazards

Question 16

Preparation for hazards

Answer 16

Official assistance commitments from all donor countries for disaster prevention and preparedness were $339.5m in 2008, while $9,548.6m donated on emergency response that same year.

Question 17

Social characteristics which influenced hazard impacts

Answer 17

Perception: fear/ fatalism- pop. so poor hazards are not immediate priority. Christian, Voodoo- accept hazards are from God. Although NDRMS means less fatalist perception.

Port-au-Prince is 80% gang controlled, corruption- no faith in their management

Question 18

Economic characteristics which influenced hazard impacts

Answer 18

Much more aid and money for response than preparation- longer recovery on the park model
Very poor population- can’t afford to not work
Loads of ports- damaged by storm surges, damage to economy due to dependency on trade

Question 19

Physical characteristics which influenced hazard impacts

Answer 19

On conservative plate margin
60% mountains, less space to evacuate to
In hurricane path
Island- airport needed to access aid
Coast is most densely populated, vulnerable to storm surges and SLR, which could cause salination flooding on crops

Question 20

Political characteristics which influenced hazard impacts

Answer 20

Poor infrastructure, 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed.
Former French colony, received more EU aid- reliant
Gangs rule much of capital- corruption, less focus on management