✅HAZARDS Case Study - Haiti Multihazardous Flashcards
Where is Haiti
Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. North of Colombia, South-East of Florida, USA.
Haiti plate boundary, winds
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
Haiti features/ topography
60 per cent of Haiti is mountainous and due to deforestation, landslides and mudslides are common.
Haiti climate
Hot, humid. Therefore diseases spread easier, like Cholera
Haiti population
12 million
Haiti Economy
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.
What hazards is it susceptible to
Earthquakes, Epidemics, Storms, Drought, Floods, Landslides
Frequency of storms
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
What year did Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricanes Gustav, Hannah and Ike occur (FGHI)
2008, within three weeks of each other
FGHI impacts
793 deaths
25,000 homes destroyed
economic damages of $1bn (5% of the country’s GDP)
Floods after wiped out 70% of crops
When was the major earthquake
Jan 12th 2010
2010 Earthquake features
Magnitude 7
Epicentre 25km West of Capital, Port-au-Price
Shallow (13 km deep)
2010 Earthquake impacts
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.
Hazard Response
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.
NDRMS’s goal
to transition from living at risk to living with risk approach to natural hazards
Preparation for hazards
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.
Social characteristics which influenced hazard impacts
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
Economic characteristics which influenced hazard impacts
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
Physical characteristics which influenced hazard impacts
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
Political characteristics which influenced hazard impacts
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
