Man,I feel for the Haitians.

[octoberlib]

Haiti Still Hasn’t Recovered From Hurricane Matthew. Now Here Comes Irma.


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Even an intense rainstorm can cause death and destruction in Haiti, a Caribbean country of 11,000 square miles and nearly 11 million people. Now Hurricane Irma, a powerful and extremely dangerous Category 5 storm, is expected to hit parts of the country early Friday morning. Still recovering from Hurricane Matthew, which struck the southern coast last October, Haiti is bracing for the worst.

“It’s a very concerning situation,” Nate Nickerson, the executive director of Konbit Sante, a nonprofit health organization, told the Press Herald before he flew to Haiti to begin preparations for recovery. “The country, obviously, doesn’t have the infrastructure to deal with a storm this powerful, and that makes its people vulnerable.”

Even if Irma only skirts by Haiti, widespread damage is still likely. Many homes are poorly built shacks and can’t withstand hurricane force winds. Rampant deforestation, the result of cutting down trees for homes and firewood, has made the effects of the storms more deadly. With no trees to stop raging waters, intense rainfall has caused mudslides and deadly floods, which can level shoddily built homes and cause even more injuries and fatalities.

Not only is Haiti still recovering from previous disasters, but Haitian nationals living abroad are also facing a potential forced return to the island. The Trump administration decided in May not to renew the temporary protected status (TPS) program that allows them to work and live legally in the United States. After a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake leveled buildings and killed an estimated 300,000 people in 2010, the Obama administration granted to Haitians this special reprieve for foreign nationals whose home countries have experienced a humanitarian disaster. Since then, an estimated 50,000 Haitian nationals have taken advantage of TPS to work and live legally in the United States.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/09/haiti-still-hasnt-recovered-from-hurricane-matthew-now-here-comes-irma/