Is nature warning Haiti about what's coming?

Two years ago, the rainy season devastated many parts of Haiti.  Did the government learn anything enabling them to make preparation and casualty prevention measures?

Well, the answer is not too clear looking at last year's rainy and hurricane season.

At that time, people in Haïti were leaving inside their homes.  Today, they are sleeping in the streets, most, under makeshift tents.

In a few weeks, the rainy season will start in Haïti.
How ready is Haïti's government officials to prevent more devastating casualties?
Well, nature has decided to give them a test, and, unfortunately, they failed.

Floods and mudslides killed at least 13 people in Haiti over the weekend, raising fears about the vulnerability of survivors of the January 12 earthquake.


Haiti's civil protection agency confirmed four people died when floodwaters triggered by torrential rains swept through Les Cayes, the country's third-largest city located on the southern coast about 100 miles (160 km) west of the quake-shattered capital Port-au-Prince.

Les Cayes was flooded by more than 60 percent.  Four more people were killed in nearby Cavaillon, four in Saint Louis du Sud and one in Aquin, the Haitian civil protection agency said. Three people were missing and close to 3,500 were evacuated from their homes, it added.


The January 12 Haitian earthquake wrecked large parts of heavily populated Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns, but also damaged towns to the south and west in the Caribbean country.

How ready will Haïti when the rainy season hits in March and the hurricane season starts in May?
So far, no specific plans have been announced by the Haitian officials or the International community.  It seems like there is no common plan.

The International community wanted to move the earthquake victims out of Port-au-Prince into shelters that would be built near but outside of Port-au-Prince, making removal of rubles and reconstruction much easier.

The President recently opted on moving the people back to their shattered homes, in smaller tent areas of 50 to 100.  The government ordered 5000 tents from China for that measure.  Is nature warning about what's coming to Haïti?  Is the government listening or paying attention to nature?

Well, history of the last 5 years shows that this government has not had a good ear to nature.  It has used casualties to ask for state of emergency measures in Haïti, allowing them to go into the financial reserves of the country and spend without going through proper channels and accountability.

As of today, no official reports have been given for the spending of the 197 millions dollars siphoned out of the Petrocaribe funds.

167 million dollars have been taken recently from that fund following the January 12 earthquake.  The President is asking for a renewal of the state of emergency but Parliamentary officials are requesting a report on government spending since January 12 before granting the renewal of that state of emergency measure.

Will Haïti be ready by May for more damage by nature?

Only time will tell and time may not be on the people's side.