Big Turk Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Every now and then something happens to jolt us back to reality and what is really important in life. Haiti was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, its strongest in almost 240 years, and did massive damage to the very poor country's woefully unprepared infrastructure. I have a friend from the capital where the quake hit the hardest that has not been able to get in contact with his family back home and fears the worst. Millions of people have been affected and tens of thousands are dead with more being pulled from the rubble every day. Please pray for him and his family and the millions of people affected by this tragedy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Great post. They are saying that Port au Prince is virtually destroyed. I pray for all those effected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Chief Navy Pride Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Every now and then something happens to jolt us back to reality and what is really important in life. Haiti was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, its strongest in almost 240 years, and did massive damage to the very poor country's woefully unprepared infrastructure. I have a friend from the capital where the quake hit the hardest that has not been able to get in contact with his family back home and fears the worst. Millions of people have been affected and tens of thousands are dead with more being pulled from the rubble every day. Please pray for him and his family and the millions of people affected by this tragedy... Tragic indeed... I was in Haiti (Puerta Prince)sp in 97 building 2 schools and 2 dorms for underprivileged children. The construction there is horrible at best and I am not surprised by the devestation that we now see. Not for lack of want to or talent but lack of funding for supplies so they make their own. While we were taking our material to our jobsites the locals would actually attempt to jump onto our moving trucks and grab whatever they could risking injury and death for better quality supplies. I hope they find your friends family. Since the majority of the construction there is concrete they are actually finding many more survivors than they originally planned due to the pockets that were created when buildings were damaged. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Hope your friends family is OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthICE Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Man I know I really hate to hear when this stuff happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountDorkula Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 They are saying it could take years to start the rebuilding process. Haiti is one of if not the poorest country in the world. I heard a report say the quake could be felt 200 miles away, and there was a giant cloud of smoke and dust in min. Haiti has no construction/building laws so the structures there are unsafe and fragile, when this quake hit, it took the entire place down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 They are saying it could take years to start the rebuilding process. Haiti is one of if not the poorest country in the world. I heard a report say the quake could be felt 200 miles away, and there was a giant cloud of smoke and dust in min. Haiti has no construction/building laws so the structures there are unsafe and fragile, when this quake hit, it took the entire place down. Practical Question: While the Dominican Republic is no wealthy country, why is it so much better off than Haiti? You'd think a caribbean country would have something of a semblance of a tourism industry to help the economy? Prayers to all affected by the quake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Chief Navy Pride Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Practical Question: While the Dominican Republic is no wealthy country, why is it so much better off than Haiti? You'd think a caribbean country would have something of a semblance of a tourism industry to help the economy? Prayers to all affected by the quake. One would think that would be the case... The unfortunate reality is that its not. When I was there in 97 I also went to Club Med in Haiti. While it looked nice enough and all with palm trees and clear blue water you could see syringes by the dozen at the bottom while walking the beach. Alot of the problem there is self created. For example: They dug holes in their own roads so that our vehicles would have to go slower allowing them a better chance of running up and grabbing something from our trucks. I understand poverty and all but don't destroy the little you do have to try to get something else. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PushthePile Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Practical Question: While the Dominican Republic is no wealthy country, why is it so much better off than Haiti? You'd think a caribbean country would have something of a semblance of a tourism industry to help the economy? Prayers to all affected by the quake. If I had to guess I would say that political instability and extreme violence has made for a very risky investment opportunity. This is just a guess based on what I have heard about Haiti. Very sad story with the earthquake and the city of Port Au Prince. Hopefully with assistance many of these buildings can be re-built with superior products. It doesn't make up for the loss of life though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt. Dan's Revenge Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Hope that your friend's family made it through the quake unharmed. Probably one of the last places that can handle a natural disaster of this magnitude. Can only imagine the affect it will have on the nation long term. Really bad scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fewell733 Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Practical Question: While the Dominican Republic is no wealthy country, why is it so much better off than Haiti? You'd think a caribbean country would have something of a semblance of a tourism industry to help the economy? Prayers to all affected by the quake. long term political problems - instability. if you go to google maps satellite image and follow the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, you'll see on the Dominican side tree covered hills, while literally just across an invisible line, the Haitian hills are nearly deforested and appear barren. Severe mismanagement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Every now and then something happens to jolt us back to reality and what is really important in life. Haiti was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, its strongest in almost 240 years, and did massive damage to the very poor country's woefully unprepared infrastructure. I have a friend from the capital where the quake hit the hardest that has not been able to get in contact with his family back home and fears the worst. Millions of people have been affected and tens of thousands are dead with more being pulled from the rubble every day. Please pray for him and his family and the millions of people affected by this tragedy... This is terrible. God Bless everyone affected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Practical Question: While the Dominican Republic is no wealthy country, why is it so much better off than Haiti? Standard answer: France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 And, this was just in the news this week: Comfort Inn plans Haiti hotel in tourism revival PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Choice Hotels is opening the first chain hotels to serve Haiti in almost a decade. A spokesman for the Maryland-based company said Thursday that a Comfort Inn will open in the Caribbean coastal city of Jacmel this May. The 32-room motel will be owned by a New York-based group of Haitian-American investors. The partners also plan a 120-room upscale hotel at the nearby Belle Rive tourism development this fall. These are the company's first hotels in Haiti. Holiday Inn left Haiti several years ago and a planned Hilton hotel was canceled amid political upheaval and collapsing infrastructure. The United Nations is leading an effort to attract tourism and investment back to the impoverished country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountDorkula Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 http://www.cnn.com/ This just makes me sick, Hundres of thousands of people... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 And, this was just in the news this week: Comfort Inn plans Haiti hotel in tourism revival PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Choice Hotels is opening the first chain hotels to serve Haiti in almost a decade. A spokesman for the Maryland-based company said Thursday that a Comfort Inn will open in the Caribbean coastal city of Jacmel this May. The 32-room motel will be owned by a New York-based group of Haitian-American investors. The partners also plan a 120-room upscale hotel at the nearby Belle Rive tourism development this fall. These are the company's first hotels in Haiti. Holiday Inn left Haiti several years ago and a planned Hilton hotel was canceled amid political upheaval and collapsing infrastructure. The United Nations is leading an effort to attract tourism and investment back to the impoverished country. As I posted in the OT thread, I was there a few years ago working at a clinic in Cyvadier, a tiny village near Jacmel. We went to Jacmel a couple of times and it was a sweet little town. There is a group at the clinic now, and they say Jacmel was hit pretty hard. One of the hotels there has collapsed, and the hospital was badly damaged. So sad. The country is basically in almost complete ruin. It's almost unfathomable. How they will ever be able to pick themselves up and rebuild is almost beyond comprehension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curse Of Rusty Jones Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I have a friend who is from PAP in Haiti....so many friends and relatives he cannot contact...I cannot even imagine how that feels...its almost as if you feel helpless as I do for my friend right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
major Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Thanks for your post! Great reminder. Praying for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 This reminds me of the big tsunami, where it seemed the full magnitude of the disaster became more evident after a few days. Terrible event. RIP to all those people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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