 Traditional and online media outlets are full of stories about the after-effects of the calamitious 7.0 earthquake in Haiti on January 21. As millions of people in this impoverished Caribbean country struggle for the immediate necessities of food, water, and shelter, the long-term future of Haiti must also be considered. The earthquake struck nearly sixteen years to the day after the 6.7 earthquake in Northridge, California that killed 57 people, injured nearly 12,000, and caused more than $40 billion dollars in damage. Estimates are that the Haitian quake was 300% worse.
As the world considers the future, Stephen Johnson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2007 to 2009, notes in a column in the Wall Street Journal, that rebuilding efforts not simply continue the status quo. “As the humanitarian relief effort unfolds in Haiti and plans are drawn up for repairing the capital city of Port-au-Prince, it would be a mistake to think it is enough to restore the hemisphere's poorest country to the status quo ante. Haitians have been through too much and for too long to deserve so little.”
Johnson suggests that “The moment is ripe to implement policies that will take Haiti beyond its position as a failed state and an ongoing recipient of international aid. (It received about $290 million from the U.S. in 2009). Haiti's leaders in particular need to promote a Haitian-led effort to rebuild their public infrastructure and institutions, and to develop a fresh mindset about the country's potential.”
Learning from Disasters of the Past
In thinking about the future it is always helpful to look at the past. The fact is that many civilizations and cities have reborn by tragedies. The Wall Street Journal reported on destruction of Lisbon by an earthquake, fire and flood in 1755. One American observer at the time reported "every building rolled and jostled like a ship at sea; which put in ruins almost every house, church, and public building, with an incredible slaughter of the inhabitants." Fires had broken out all across Lisbon and the river rose 20 feet, breaking its banks and swallowing lower elevations. According to the WSJ the earthquake struck without warning, killing 15,000 people and 17,000 of the city's 20,000 homes were destroyed.
The WSJ reported “The scale of the calamity shocked the Western world. It demanded a response, and an explanation. Aid arrived from many nations; explanations were harder to agree upon. Clerics in this Age of the Inquisition described the calamity as an act of God, a judgment for the sins of the people. Fashionable thinkers attempted to explain the earthquake as a blessing in disguise, part of God's benevolent design wherein everything happened for the best.
French philosopher Voltaire noted “A civilization worthy of its name should pay special heed to disasters, learn from the mistakes they revealed, and harness intelligence, science and sympathy to make a more secure world. This was the project of modernity.”
Voltaire apparently did not expect Lisbon would rise so proudly from the rubble. “Employing the absolute power of the monarchy and the resources of empire, the Marquis de Pombal built a new metropolis with earthquake-proof buildings, wide thoroughfares and a sewer system” notes the WSJ article. “Merchants had braced themselves for businesses failures and the decline of their fortunes. But Pombal turned one of the worst natural disasters in European history into an occasion for modernization. The lesson was clear, and it was one that would resonate down through the centuries: With the right intervention, catastrophes presented extraordinary opportunities to make improvements.”
The American Experience
The Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the University of Pennsylvania has done a great deal of work on disasters. In Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina by Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter, the authors note that “Disasters—natural ones, such as hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes, and unnatural ones such as terrorist attacks—are part of the American experience in the twenty-first century. The challenges of preparing for these events, withstanding their impact, and rebuilding communities afterward require strategic responses from different levels of government in partnership with the private sector and in accordance with the public will.”
Summary
In understanding the future of Haiti, it is important to learn from the past and consider strategic decisions that will insure that investment in Haiti include immediate humanitarian aid but also rebuild a better world for the people.
The public can donate online to the victims of the Haiti earthquake through several websites including the White House, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and the Red Cross.
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