Saturday, April 28, 2018

     Throughout it's history Haiti has suffered cyclones, hurricanes, floods, and tropical storms. One of the worst hazards to happen is flooding. Because of Haiti's severe earthquakes, tsunamis happen and cause flooding. Not to mention tons of tropical storms that occur. Haiti's flooding is severe. Now that climate change is severe, the ocean levels are rising so flooding is more likely to happen. 

     As discussed in several other posts, flooding preventative strategies include buildings being elevated, planting trees and greenery, and warning systems. One way to accomplish this would be to  increase spending fees on flooding prevention tactics. It's hard enough as it is to save money for preventative strategies since Haiti is a very poor country. 

Resources: http://thinkhazard.org/en/report/108-haiti/CF

Monday, April 16, 2018

Hurricane Matthew: A cyclone hits Haiti
     In 2016 Hurricane Matthew tore through the East Coast of the U.S. What wasn't necessarily known was that Haiti was hit so hard by it that it was classified as a cyclone. The rains and high winds killed more than 470 people. Due to the poverty Haiti is in, they don't have proper disaster warning systems. It was said that Haitians were doing everything they usually would only hours before the storm hit. They have no one warning them about the potential danger coming to their country. The cities have shabby buildings and unsafe housing so the people can't even try to shelter themselves. Unlike Haiti, Cuba actually holds a disaster preparedness plan every month. Expenses for "disaster-proofing" locations are unfortunately out of Haiti's range.
RESOURCE: http://time.com/4522707/hurricane-matthew-haiti/
Haiti's Hurricanes
1873: Hurricane Five, 115 MPH winds
1935: Unnamed storm, 2000> deaths
1954: Hurricane Hazel, 1000> deaths
1955: Hurricane Katie, 7 deaths, 115 MPH winds
1963: Hurricane Flora, 8000 deaths, 145 MPH winds
1964: Hurricane Cleo, 192 deaths, 150 MPH winds
1966: Hurricane Inez, 480 deaths, 115 MPH winds
1979: Hurricane David, 115 MPH winds
1994: Hurricane Gordon, 1000 deaths
1998: Hurricane Georges, 400 deaths, destroyed 80% of crops
2004: Hurricane Jeanne, only floods killed 3000> deaths, 13 inches of rain
2008: Hurricane Hanna, Fay, Gustav, Ike, 793 deaths, 70% of crops destroyed
     Due to the country's poor funding, all their resources such as tree and coal were stripped from the mountains causing the rain water to completely rampage down.  The flooding alone can kill thousands. To try and reduce the flooding caused by these hurricanes, the country has been planting trees and other greenery to "re-forest" the mountains.
Resource: https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/haiti.asp
Haiti's Mass Waste
     Haiti has very steep mountains and very soft soil due to tropical storms. The large earthquakes Haiti has always imposes a threat to landslides. Not only do earthquakes cause landslides, but they also shift the soils and make the ground more vulnerable to slide. The deforestation also contributes to landslides as well. Since trees aren't there to somewhat catch some of the debris and be rooted down into the Earth, the mud and waters flow straight down the mountain at insane speeds. 
     Haiti has steep mountains and severe earthquakes. When you put those together there a large chance of slope failure. Severe rains and shaking without tree roots or buffers for a chance to save damages.

RESOURCES: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=42333
                         https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100114-haiti-earthquake-landslides/