HOMEWORK 78

THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI STRIKES THE NATION

The Carribbean island nation of Haiti is well familiar with weather-related disasters. The country had not yet recovered from the havoc wreaked by catastrophic storms in 2008 that left a thousand dead and up to 1 million homeless¹ when a devastating 7M earthquake struck on January 12 at 1653 local time (2153 GMT). The massive tremor's epicenter was approximately 10 miles southwest from the capital, Port-au-Prince, and at a depth of 6.2 miles² and is the most powerful to hit in 200 years.
Chaos and fear on this island nation is tangible. Haiti's President has appealed for international aid after dozens of aftershocks have ensued, stating that: "Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed."³ Because of untreated injuries, infectious diseases and dismal sanitary conditions, health workers said that the natural disaster that struck Haiti more than a week ago remained a major medical crisis and that, unless quickly controlled, it would continue to take large numbers of lives in the days and weeks ahead. eighborhood residents will soon be joining the ongoing effort to help the thousands of families devastated by last week’s earthquake in Haiti.
Local elected officials and members of Millennium Development announced the kick-off of a massive fundraising/collection drive for the embattled residents of the mountain country.
Over the next two weeks organizers will be collecting canned goods, non-perishable food and financial donations at local legislative offices and through Millennium Development’s senior centers and after school programs in Mill Basin, Marine Park, Flatlands, Midwood, Bergen Beach, Flatbush and Canarsie.


THIS ARTICLE IS FROM http://mceer.buffalo.edu/infoservice/disasters/Haiti-Earthquake-2010.asp , http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/world/americas/21haiti.html, AND http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/nabe_leaders_start_donation_drive_hiU1QAtjqTgDVU2Er9enKP
THE PICTURES ARE FROM , http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/world/americas/21haiti.html