Photo Essay: Haiti’s Unnatural Disaster

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Posted September 2008  

Hammered by four deadly storms and unprepared for the worst, Haiti finds itself helpless to react.

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No end in sight: As Hurricane Gustav approached the southern United States, state and federal governments swung into action, fearing a reprise of the Katrina catastrophe. As it turned out, the damage to the United States was less serious than expected. But in Haiti, the suffering is just beginning as four storms in four weeks, two of them hurricanes, have devastated the impoverished island in what the country’s president calls, “Katrina in the entire country, but without the means that Louisiana had.”

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Water, water, everywhere: A man carries water through the flooded northern city of Gonaives on Sept. 8. More than 600 people have been killed by the storms—Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike—but the worst might be yet to come as displaced Haitians without access to clean drinking water fall victim to waterborne diseases.

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Washed off the map: In the city of Saint-Marc, as many as 60,000 people have been cut off from the outside world—and much-needed aid—by severe flooding. Above, water pours through Saint-Marc’s streets on Sept. 7.

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Help from above: Flooding in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, as viewed from a U.S. military aircraft on Sept. 9. A U.S. Navy warship was diverted to Haiti to help with food and fresh water, but flooding continues to frustrate rescue efforts. So far, the United States has pledged $10 million in immediate aid to Haiti.

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Standing alone: A child stands in the mud amid the wreckage of Gonaives on Sept. 9. Nearly 80 percent of the city’s 300,000 people have been displaced.

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Keeping the peace: Argentine U.N. soldiers use razor wire to control a crowd waiting for food from the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) on Sept. 9. Haiti’s government, weakened by years of violence and corruption as well as recent food riots, has been hapless during the crisis, relying largely on international aid.

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Handouts: Haitians wait for aid from the WFP on Sept. 9. Paul Farmer of the nongovernmental organization Partners in Health described the deaths caused by the storm as an “unnatural disaster” and demanded that the international community commit to “a speedy, determined relief effort [that] could save the lives of tens of thousands of Haitians in Gonaives and all along the flooded coast.”

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Carrying the load: A pilot helps unload aid from a U.S. Navy helicopter on Sept. 8. Aid workers have largely relied on helicopters, as muddy roads make truck travel impossible.

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Race against the clock: Crew members unload water in Gonaives on Sept. 10. The amount of aid so far is vastly inadequate for the waterlogged city, where more than 100 bodies have already been found.