How Haiti Is Weathering Two Natural Disasters At Once

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🗓️ 18 August 2021

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Just weeks after the shock of a presidential assassination, Haiti was hit by a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Saturday. The death toll is nearing 2,000 — and still rising — while thousands more are injured and homeless.

Haiti's last major earthquake was in 2010. It killed an estimated 200,000 people and injured 300,000 more. This week's quake struck farther from major population centers, but that's made search and rescue efforts challenging.

NPR's Jason Beaubien reports from Haiti where Tropical Storm Grace has made matters even worse.

And Haiti's ambassador to the U.S. Bocchit Edmond tells NPR's Ailsa Chang what the country needs now.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It was barely a month ago since Haiti's president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in his home,
0:07.0	and the country has been thrust into another crisis.
0:10.7	The Quake rocked residents of southwestern Haiti into the streets, buildings and homes.
0:15.4	On Saturday, Haiti was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck near the southwestern
0:21.6	part of the island.
0:23.2	As of Tuesday, the death toll was at nearly 2000.
0:26.6	It's likely to continue to rise.
0:28.6	John Fonfon Vitau is a 38-year-old business owner in Ceylon.
0:38.4	He lost his baby in the disaster.
0:40.8	My child was dead.
0:42.4	My father was carrying him and they passed by the building to brief down at Landrum.
0:47.2	The child was so young, only four months.
0:50.2	And maybe that's the only reason why he's dead.
0:53.2	He was so young.
0:55.2	His father was treated in a local hospital.
0:58.2	He survived.
0:59.2	We have a lot of trauma patients that are still not attended.
1:03.3	Jerry Chandler is the head of the office of Civil Protection for Haiti.
1:07.1	He told NPR earlier this week that the first priority is getting medical care for people
1:12.0	injured in building collapses.
1:13.7	A lot of the hospitals that are in the region that was affected are either overrun or
1:19.8	affected themselves structurally, so they are limited in terms of capacity and in terms
	...

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