Trying to get feet on the streets in Haiti

Aug 25, 2021 By PAULETTE LeBLANC 4 min read

According to retired Urban Search and Rescue Medic Joe Hernandez, there are not nearly enough boots on the ground in Haiti. Since the Aug. 14, 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti, Hernandez says, the situation is getting nowhere near the attention it deserves.

“I’ve never in my life watched a prime time newscaster on a rubble-pile, 48 hours post-disaster with nobody working on it-that speaks loudly,” Hernandez, a Pine Island resident, said.

Still reeling from the Jan. 12, 2010 7.3 earthquake, which struck Haiti near its Port-au-Prince capital, Hernandez reports a dire situation for Haitian locals, where over 700 homes have been destroyed and tens of thousands more have been damaged. Most of the infrastructure damage has been to schools, hospitals and water systems, affecting approximately 2.1 million people.

Of the 24 healthcare facilities in the area, four have been destroyed, leaving the remaining 20 with massive structural damage, Hernandez said.

“The Haitian people are scared to go into their own hospitals because of the aftershocks,” said Hernandez.

Fear of structural integrity has left many people sleeping outside hospitals, clinics, and buildings, he said. Urban Search and Rescue teams were cautioned against going into the area because it might “cause a clog in Port-au-Prince,” said Hernandez, “preventing rescue teams from penetrating destroyed areas.” According to the Haitian Minister of the Interior, as soon as the roads were opened they lost two of the roads leading into two of the damaged cities due to local gang violence.

“Gangs have closed the roads and created road blocks,” said Hernandez. “So when humanitarian aid is trying to come down, they are robbed and stolen from.”

According to messages received by Hernandez, Haiti’s local officials have now negotiated with gangs in the seaside district in Martissant to allow two humanitarian convoys to pass through per day. Hernandez said he is at a loss as to what to tell the American people to do to help, in a place where many of the deceased have been laid to rest as quickly as possible, for fear that Cholera might pollute local drinking water.

Public health is only one of the risks for Haitian earthquake survivors, who are without access to even a meager restroom.

“There are no Porto-Johns,” said Hernandez. “All the people who are sleeping outside have lost their homes. They’re all pooping and peeing outside. There’s fecal contamination all over-there are bodies, so there’s contamination, and now if the rains come and wash this stuff into their drain fields and into their wells, all their drinking water gets contaminated. Their running water is only as good as their wells.”

At this point, the U.S Navy has sent a ship to Haiti with two Seahawk helicopters and a Marine contingency, Hernandez said. SOUTHCOM (U.S. Southern Command) has been involved now and the Pentagon has sent SOUTHCOM units with a Navy ship and Marines for force protection.

“It appears to be too unstable for the normal response of FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams. It’s the military providing protection and transportation of victims,” he said.

His best guess at an outcome, based on his experience with the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake is that there will be no fast and easy resolution.

“Here we are 11 years later,” Hernandez said. “Unfortunately, it’s likely, 11 years from now we’ll probably still be reeling from the incident itself, especially to the outside exteriors. The economy of that developing nation just doesn’t have the support. That’s why there are so many non-profit government organizations (NGO’s) supporting them-not only medically, but there are a lot of construction contractors. There are still people there helping from 2010. The hospitals and clinics that have been built, were built by those NGO’s in 2010 and I’m sure more will be built again, because the ones that are there are going to have to be torn down and rebuilt-they’re all infrastructurally damaged. Anywhere else in the world where we lost 2,000 people-it would be all over the news.”

To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC, please email pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com