Port-au-Prince Haiti - Local Scale Case Study

Hazards - Physical Geography

physical nature of hazard

• epicentre: 25km south west of port-au-prince

• 2010 12 January 5pm

• 7 magnitude

• 13km depth

• 50+ aftershocks measuring 4.5+

• port-au-prince (capital of Haiti) is on fault line running off where the North American Plate is sliding under the Caribbean Plate

• houses built on the softer rock collapsed

world risk report for haiti

2016 ranked high at 21st due to lack of coping capacity, highest vulnerability and susceptibility

immediate responses

• local people pulled neighbours out of buildings, cleared debris and started rebuilding

• poor planning, management and access meant locals had to help each other

issue with aid

• there’s aid dependency - ppl are fed but not producing for themselves. 2016 Haiti still dependant on aid

CARE: Save the Children Evaluation

• 8 months after, locals increasingly feel that humanitarian community/gov: aren’t meeting ppl’s expectations, are financially unsustainable and not helping locals achieve own goals and despite meetings ppl’s live aren’t improving and circumstances are deteriorating for many

hazard perception of haitians

• acceptance: ppl mostly not aware of risk as weren’t educated and didn’t remember them

• fatalism: ppl can’t influence the outcome therefore nothing can be done to mitigate against it and so put in place limited preventative measures

why port-au-prince is vulnerable

• high pop density

• high building density + poor quality

• young population structure due to rapid pop growth (don’t have enough opportunities = civil unrest and violence)

• shanty towns on steep unstable slopes prone to landslides eg Cité Soleil a large slum in lowest coastal area susceptible to hurricanes/tsunamis

• informal settlements in ravines/gullies and wetlands = susceptible to indundation

• 40% living on hillsides at risk of landslides

• Long history of national debt, extreme poverty, poor housing conditions = exacerbate death toll as effects last long time

• High urban growth and unplanned development = urban poverty in hazard-exposed areas

•  limited investment in social/physical infrastructure, healthcare, water and sanitation, power supplies and education = increases disaster risk

disaster risk: poverty nexus

• low income households forced to occupy hazard exposed areas

• ppl are socially excluded from political debate etc

• vulnerability of women- 246+ cases of women being attacked/raped in tents

• lack of tenure = discourages investment in better measures/services

• exposure to risk = community relocation to less suitable areas = far from employment = more vulnerable in long term

economic primary impacts

• 8 hospitals collapsed

• $7-14 billion losses = twice its GDP

• Gini index: 0.61 = unequal country

• 1 in 5 jobs lost

• power cuts

• clothing industry (2/3 of exports) suffered damage to facilities

• poor quality buildings easily destroyed

economic secondary impacts

• 6 months later 98% of rubble still on roads = restricting aid

• 2014 170,000 ppl still in displacement camps, 70% lacked access to electricity and 600,000 still food insecure

• new building codes established, part of debt written off

• Since 2010 Haitian diaspora contributed over $10bn to the post-earthquake recovery eg through remittances

• extreme poverty has fallen 31-24% over last decade

social primary impact

• 100,000 - 300,000 deaths

• 1.5 million homeless - 250,000 homes destroyed

• many killed by collapsed buildings = no building codes

• 4000 schools damaged (80% of schools in capital)

• few doctors

• almost no social protection

social secondary impacts

• 8000 national and international humanitarian aid agencies operating with limited coordination

• 1.5 mill ppl in camps at peak

• cholera outbreak killed 8000 caused by infected UN peacekeepers from Nepal bringing disease

• 4.3mill ppl provided with food rations

• increased HIV risk

• over 90% of the internally displaced people have left camps and relocated 

• large number of rapes in temporary shelters

• primary education has risen from 78 to 90%

political primary impacts

• fragile state: didn’t have capacity to manage, political corruption

• risk of political unrest and opportunism eg looting and aid scamming

• 102 UN staff members died in a day

• 60% of government buildings destroyed/ damaged = hindering efforts to control Haiti, police force collapsed 

• main prison destroyed and 4000 inmates escaped

• confusion over leadership = air traffic congestion complicated early relief work 

• Medecins Sans Frontiers helped casualties whilst USA coordinated aid distribution 

• delays in aid distribution (led to looting and violence) 

political secondary impacts

• difficulty getting aid in due to issues at airports and ports

aid from abroad (food, water, medical supplies, shelters) 

• - USA sent helicopters, 10,000 troops, search and rescue teams and $100 million in aid

• - UK Disaster Emergency Committee raised £100 million

• - after 2 years only 43% of the $4.59 billion aid had been received and disbursed 

• - UN sent troops/police and set up Food Aid Cluster to feed 2 million people, USA provided security to maintain order and ensure fair distribution of aid 

• - Haitian government moved 235,000 ppl from Port-au-Prince to less damaged cities

• - tensions arose between government newly made ‘Interim Haiti Recovery Commission’ and NGOs

• - A hurricane in November also caused flooding and further dislocated at least 10,000 people