Charles Smythe made the following comment about my post regarding the devastation on the East coast of America.
Poor Americans? Reputedly the richest country on the planet.
Of course we are all saddened by the devastaion which has caused their 'poor' country... but what about the likes of Haiti for example, one of the many countries to have been affected severely by the same hurricane?
"On Monday, the scale of damage in Haiti from Hurricane Sandy became evident. Even though the storm’s center skirted the country, more than 20 inches of rain fell on Haiti’s south and southwest over four days last week, causing at least 52 deaths, tearing out crops and destroying houses.
“We are facing a major crisis,” Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said this weekend after he flew over the regions that had been hit by the storm.
"The (Haitian) government said that the homes of as many as 200,000 people had been damaged — on top of almost 400,000 people still homeless from the January 2010 earthquake. “We have a lot of work ahead of us in terms of the aid that we will need to deliver in the days, weeks and months to come,” Mr. Lamothe said. “It won’t be easy because there are many roads and bridges that have been cut off.”
He’s right, the publicity about the problems that Sandy caused in Haiti only warranted a minor story in the papers in spite of the fact that the damage, on top of that caused by the 2010 earthquake, were equally if not more devastating. Whist America has the capacity to pick itself up, Haiti will suffer for years if not decades.
1 comment:
Thank you for publishing my letter, Keith. And thank you for your comments.
You see, Haiti (and the other islands affected dramatically by this natural disaster) does not have the power, the voice, to defend itself and to get its voice heard over and above the mighty USA. It's not as glamourous, as 'sexy', even, as its north American continental counterpart, so does not have the voice to get its message heard by the world's media (which is run purely & simply by money) which could help it recover.
Listen to this : " At least 54 people were killed and 18,000 forced from their homes when the storm hit the Caribbean nation last week. But Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe has told reporters that the after-effects of the storm could prove to be more deadly.
"This is a disaster of major proportions," he warned. "The whole south is under water... The economy took a huge hit. Most of the agricultural crops that were left from Hurricane Isaac were destroyed during Sandy. So food security will be an issue."
Twenty people remain missing from the initial disaster, and pictures have shown destroyed bridges, submerged houses and standing water across much of the country. But the greatest threat to life may come from cholera, which is spread via contaminated water."
We, as Internet users have to hunt out this information as the Press keeps its focus on the 'poor old USA'... that is, if we are even interested in the first place and not distracted by what we read, hear and see on the media put in front of us.
Source : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/haiti-fears-cholera-and-food-shortages-will-raise-storms-death-toll-8262290.html
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