Hurricane Response: What Can We Do?

Haiti has had an almost unfathomable string of bad news lately, with 4 tropical storms or hurricanes in the last three weeks: Fay, then Gustave, then Hannah then Ike. Estimates of the deaths caused by the storm have surpassed 1,000, and will continue to climb. More people will be killed in the coming months- from food shortages caused by the storms’ destruction of farms, from difficulty accessing healthcare because of destroyed roads, and from the general aggravation of poverty.
But it is important for all of us to remember that these storms are only part natural disaster. It is not natural that Haiti suffers more fatalities than the rest of the Caribbean combined whenever a storm hits it (see Another Unnatural Disaster, October 2004). The lethal combination of poverty, weak governance and foreign interference leaves Haiti without the ability to enforce laws on cutting down trees, install adequate drainage systems or effectively execute disaster planning and response. So although it is important to respond to the current catastrophe, it is even more important to work to implement the structures necessary to prevent the next catastrophe. These structures include elected legislative and executive branches that are responsible to the voters, not just the international community or people who live in hurricane-proof housing. They include a justice system that can enforce the laws fairly and effectively, and international aid and trade policies designed to help Haiti’s poor, not the world’s rich and powerful.