Fortunately for the earthquake ravaged nation of Haiti, Tropical Storm Tomas did minimal damage to Port-au-Prince last week as it dissipated. Eight people were killed as a result of the storm, which was considered a relief to officials who were expecting a much higher death toll. However, prior to Tomas’s arrival, Haiti officials were already fighting the imminent presence of a Cholera outbreak. So far there have been 7,700 cases and 500 confirmed deaths as a result of Cholera. Due to the contaminated drinking supply and lack of sanitary conditions, the disease is rapidly spreading and expected to become even more rampant in coming weeks. After the January earthquake devastated the country and displaced almost 1.5 million people, living conditions have been way below healthy levels and medical relief is failing to keep up. The World Health Organization has intervened and is attempting to set up portable camps to treat those infected with the disease, but since numbers are expected to spike, this might not be enough. Though officials are not sure of the source of the outbreak, they are making every effort to set up resources to eliminate it.
I think it is devastating that the country of Haiti has to face another traumatic event. It has been a very long and arduous year for the small country that seems to continually be plagued with problems. However, it is rather fascinating that we have been able to observe the long-term societal effects an earthquake of Haiti’s magnitude can have on a country. Even with all of the technology and resources we have available to us today, there are still so many uncontrollable factors such as hurricanes, tropical storms, disease outbreaks, and earthquakes that can radically effect our nations and take years to recover from. The chain of events associated with these disasters is incalculable even for our society, but hopefully we have mastered much more efficient ways to respond and rebuild after such occurrences.
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