Giving Up on Haiti, Harlem?

Harlem NY and Bronx NY, do you ever think of Haiti after the killer earthquake?

Bill Reed, head of the National Hurricane Center,

told an audience in Fort Lauderdale, FL, May 20 that he is deeply

concerned that Haiti will not be able to withstand the Atlantic

hurricane season that begins June 1. "I don't feel comfortable

that, should there be a direct hit, there would be the capacity

to shelter everybody in a safe place," Reed told the Florida

Governor's Hurricane Conference.

That is an understatement. Thanks to Nerobama, Haiti has no

protection from any further natural disaster, with 700,000 people

still living in flimsy and filthy tents in Port-au-Prince, and

countless thousands more living in precarious "housing" not fit

for human habitation.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) warned on May 19 that as many as 18

tropical storms will develop between June 1 and Nov. 30, and

three to six of those could strengthen into major hurricanes,

with top winds of 111 mph or higher.

Haiti has no defenses against such storms. It is extremely

vulnerable to flooding, even from a weak tropical storm, due to

the extreme deforestation that has occurred over decades of

over-farming and cutting trees for charcoal, which is used for

fuel. Infrastructure that might protect the population from

flooding is nonexistent.

According to the mayor of the Port-au-Prince suburb of

Carrefour, who attended the Fort Lauderdale conference, he can do

nothing for the people of his city in the event of a hurricane or

other natural disaster. Carrefour has no emergency shelters, very

few medical resources, and lacks sanitation infrastructure. He

reported that all he can do is urge people to leave and find a

safer spot, and not to expect any help from the authorities. But

many refuse to leave, he added, responding that "We don't have

anywhere to go; we'll stay right here, and if we have to die,

we'll die here."