. Earth Science News .
SHAKE AND BLOW
Haiti's rubble will fill 1,000 trucks a day, for over 1,000 days

UN aid convoy attacked in northern Haiti
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Feb 22, 2010 - A UN aid convoy destined for victims of Haiti's massive earthquake was attacked in the country's north Monday and some supplies were taken, but no one was injured, officials and a witness said. "The convoy comprising full containers of food kits escorted by the UN was attacked by several hundred people who threw rocks at the vehicles and demanded aid," a teacher who witnessed the incident in the town of Limbe said. Some of the food was taken, according to the witness, while a police official said UN troops agreed to distribute milk to the crowd in Limbe, near Haiti's second city of Cap-Haitien. The police commissioner for the area, Augustin Dumercy, said the incident occurred when residents blocked the convoy from leaving Limbe.

"People tried to take the products by blocking the exit from the town for the convoy with five trailers of products," he said. Police did not make any arrests, he said. "After discussions with the Chilean UN troops who were escorting the convoy, milk crates were distributed to the people, who fought amongst themselves by throwing rocks," he said. There were no reports of injuries, he said. Haiti's north was mostly unscathed in last month's earthquake that devastated the capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, killing more than 200,000 and leaving 1.2 million homeless.
by Staff Writers
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Feb 22, 2010
The team included women in skirts shoveling for all it's worth, but it barely made a dent in the mountain of debris that was once a shopping center in Haiti's quake-devastated capital.

While it may not seem so, judging from the absence of heavy equipment at the site, removing rubble is an urgent matter, and not only because of the many bodies still trapped under buildings in ruin throughout Port-au-Prince.

Massive mounds of rubble are blocking drains and canals that are crucial in preventing floods when the heavy rains begin around May. Those made homeless by the quake who live in low-lying camps face more catastrophe if flooding occurs.

On top of that, potential new camp sites for the homeless need to be cleared of debris to relocate thousands of people now crammed in overcrowded, makeshift settlements.

Aid officials say clearing all the rubble from the quake will fill 1,000 trucks a day for more than 1,000 days. So why bother with shoveling?

"It's just to help the unemployed," said Robert Jean Louis, site supervisor where a cinema, pharmacy and grocery store once stood.

The goal is a worthy one, with so many people out of work in this impoverished country, and Louis said the shovelers, who earn five dollars a day, were only the initial phase of a plan that will later bring in heavy equipment.

It was unclear if aid officials have designated his site a priority, though it does contain some very large drains.

But asked when the heavy equipment would arrive, Louis thought for a moment, then said, "not yet."

"Maybe in one month," said the head of the digging team hired by aid group CHF International. "Could be longer, could be less."

Rubble removal is another indication of the catastrophe's daunting scale. Other urgent tasks include food and shelter distribution, as well as improving living conditions in the squalid camps that are home to more than a million people.

On top of that, Haiti's badly crippled government faces a lack of heavy equipment to clear the rubble left by the 7.0-magnitude quake that killed more than 217,000 people.

US Colonel Gregory Kane said Monday he believed there were now enough trucks in the country and in the neighboring Dominican Republic to handle the job.

Kane said drains and canals will have to be unblocked quickly because of the coming rains.

"That will overwhelm the storm water mitigation system that they've got in Port-au-Prince if the rubble is not cleared out," he said.

And up to 19 camps housing tens of thousands of people in and around Port-au-Prince are considered to be in low-lying areas, he said.

Canadian Deputy Commanding General Nicolas Matern of the Haiti Joint Task Force said because the demand for shelter is so urgent ahead of the rains, rubble removal will focus on what is needed for the camps.

That includes clearing space to create new settlements to ease overcrowded sites that are becoming a health risk, he said.

Matern said the quake created between 20 and 25 million cubic yards (meters) of rubble.

"Enough to fill five Superdomes," he said, referring to the US stadium in New Orleans that housed thousands of people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"Or put in other terms, 1,000 trucks (a day) for 1,000 days," he said.

"What we're doing to support the shelter initiative is we're focusing our rubble removal in the immediate zero to three months on the settlements, as opposed to trying to do everything at once," he added.

At the site of the crumbled shopping center, the workers picked away, wearing masks to keep from breathing in the clouds of cement dust and the rancid smells emanating from the pile.

Workers there said they were glad to be working despite the low pay. Louis, the supervisor, said it was only the beginning.

"We have several sites to clear out," he said. "Overall, what is needed is to clear the canal to allow water to drain."



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


SHAKE AND BLOW
Haiti quake far more destructive than 2004 tsunami: study
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Feb 16, 2010
The scale of devastation in Haiti is far worse than in Asia after the 2004 tsunami, a study said Tuesday, predicting last month's quake could be the most destructive disaster in modern history. The stark assessment from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) comes with Port-au-Prince still lying in ruins more than one month on, while the bodies of more than 200,000 dead pile up in mass gr ... read more







The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement