2011-01-16: Reactions to the Haitian horror

(Written in transit from Walldorf, Germany, to Marseille, France, on January 15th)

The catastrophe in Haiti saddens and appalls me — I am saddened for the loss of life, for the unfathomable sorrow of the survivors, the pain of the injured, for the fact that the survivors have lost so many and so much. Some have lost their entire families in addition to escaping with only what they were wearing at the time the earthquake struck. 

I am appalled because much of the loss of life was preventable. Hmm. That may be hyperbole borne of wishful thinking: preventing the deaths in Haiti would have meant years of fixing so many systemic problems as to render “prevention” meaningless: replacing, for example, the shantytowns with affordable, built-to-code structures; providing meaningful employment; benefitting from competence rather than corruption at all levels of government, and so on infinitum ad nauseam.

The photos tell the story: there doesn’t seem to be one building anywhere in Port-au-Prince (among the ones left standing) that is undamaged. So much unreinforced or inadequately reinforced concrete! So many houses dwellings without any foundation whatsoever on inhospitable hillsides (many now in ravines)! It is catastrophe upon catastrophe.

The lack of heavy equipment and infrastructure will result in a death toll that will be far higher than the “should have been.” A 7.0 earthquake is nearly always going to result in deaths in any densely-populated area. But when people (notably the Haitian president himself) are speaking of a toll anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000, and possibly more, the world’s collective failure to pay attention to this poverty-stricken, wood-denuded, one-third-of-an-island can scarcely be atoned for by rushing in trying to rush in however many search-dog and rescue teams and emergency aid.

…My saying this must mean that I think we, the world, the Earth, Earthlings, Terrans, human beings, including our governments and even our corporations, are indeed responsible for one another. And that we ought to think ahead and invest in our collective futures, rather than only reacting to disasters of such magnitude as to pique the most hardened heart and conscience.* (Oh, that does make me a socialist, yes, it must, and if so, I say: I am glad to be one.—But I digress.)

The lack of equipment means that many who are buried who might have survived will die for lack of water. It is hot in Haiti — 32/33ºC, and for better or worse, no rain is forecast. (Perhaps some water would have made its way to those buried, but I suppose overall it’s a good thing that there is no rain there.) (16 Jan update: Now I wish there were a bit of rain so that those going without water on the streets can fill up bottles and buckets, given the problems of distribution.) 

Then there will be the aftermath victims: those rescued but injured whose wounds will be infected for lack of adequate medical attention immediately after. Whatever water infrastructure there may be (to say nothing of sewers and electricity) is hugely damaged, and the risk of cholera and typhus and so on is rising hourly. (Addendum: Apparently crush injuries are particularly insidious: once a victim is freed, the toxins that have built up in the affected limb(s) rush through the body and overwhelm the kidneys. This can only be counteracted by immediately administering IV saline solution plus mannitol; and of course most Haitians’ access to these life-saving substances is next to nil.)

Is there enough money in the world to fix what is wrong with the world? I don’t think there’s any way to answer that question: even if there is enough, it will never get into the hands of those who need it and/or those who are competent to use it wisely and well.

Scenes of looting and sheer chaos in Haiti seem to be on the screens of CNN International here at the Frankfurt airport. This social breakdown is not unexpected, certainly, but once again, a hideous tragedy is compounded by the failure of leaders on all levels and in all places and venues to address the problems of this locus of heartbreak long before the Earth ruptured.

How sad to see people trying through sheer brute force to move slabs of concrete with their own unaided strength. Dogs who are trained to sniff out the living will soon be replaced by cadaver dogs. (I’ve heard that rescue dogs get depressed if they end up dealing only with the dead.) 

At this point, it was time to board my flight to Marseille.

*Apparently Rush Limbaugh has neither a heart nor a conscience.