Chef Jim Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Why oh why do all these major disasters happen to the poorest areas? Does God not like poor people?
Cugalabanza Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Wow, I just heard about this. It looks really really terrible.
Wooderson Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Cuz the poorest people live in the worst areas.
Chef Jim Posted January 13, 2010 Author Posted January 13, 2010 Cuz the poorest people live in the worst areas. And the San Andreas fault runs right through downtown San Francisco where a 900 sq ft condo is going to cost you $900,000 after the real estate market crashed.
Beerball Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Why oh why do all these major disasters happen to the poorest areas? Does God not like poor people? And the San Andreas fault runs right through downtown San Francisco where a 900 sq ft condo is going to cost you $900,000 after the real estate market crashed. I think you debunked your own argument.
Chef Jim Posted January 13, 2010 Author Posted January 13, 2010 I think you debunked your own argument. When was the last time SF was reduced to rubble? Ummm that would have been 103 years ago. How many poor cities have been reduced to rubble in the past 5 years. No, my arguement stands.
Rubes Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 It's been a few years since I was there, but I can't even imagine what the place must be like now. Most buildings there are made of unreinforced concrete, and as you can tell from some of the initial pictures, they are just crumbling to the ground. What little infrastructure they had is now almost certainly in ruins. It's almost incomprehensible. The clinic I visited previously is in Cyvadier, a tiny village near Jacmel. Cyvadier is about 15 miles directly south of the epicenter. I thought for sure the clinic would be leveled, but apparently not. The group I went with, Friends of the Children of Haiti (FOTCOH.org), has about three or four trips per year, and one was scheduled to arrive this coming Monday. They're still planning on it, but I'm not sure how since the air traffic control tower at the airport in Port-au-Prince has collapsed. What was scary for us is that one of our family decided to go a week early, and had just arrived at the clinic as the earthquake hit. Apparently, the clinic is damaged, but not too badly. They have water and power thanks to a new generator, and it sounds like everybody there is okay. Jacmel, however, according to the team, did not fare as well. I remember it as a pretty little town on the coast, but it sounds like it was hit hard, which means most of the buildings are probably destroyed. They say the hospital there was heavily damaged. Hardly anybody can afford care there, though, and when I was there the hospital seemed completely empty, so perhaps not many people were trapped inside. It's just impossible to imagine how the country can possibly pick itself up and rebuild.
PushthePile Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 When was the last time SF was reduced to rubble? Ummm that would have been 103 years ago. How many poor cities have been reduced to rubble in the past 5 years. No, my arguement stands. Poor cities/countries, have poor construction and very little in the way of building codes. A city like Port Au Prince has very little chance of standing up to an earthquake or any other natural disaster. The majority of the buildings in Haiti are made of concrete and without rebar. ....not too mention very little emergency and recovery resources. One of the reports said that Port Au Prince has two functioning fire stations.
Chef Jim Posted January 13, 2010 Author Posted January 13, 2010 Poor cities/countries, have poor construction and very little in the way of building codes. A city like Port Au Prince has very little chance of standing up to an earthquake or any other natural disaster. The majority of the buildings in Haiti are made of concrete and without rebar. ....not too mention very little emergency and recovery resources. One of the reports said that Port Au Prince has two functioning fire stations. It was actually a rhetorical question.
PushthePile Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 It was actually a rhetorical question. You followed up your rhetorical question with "no my argument still stands". Sorry about the confusion.
DC Tom Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 One of the reports said that Port Au Prince has two functioning fire stations. Not anymore.
Wooderson Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 And the San Andreas fault runs right through downtown San Francisco where a 900 sq ft condo is going to cost you $900,000 after the real estate market crashed. Cool?
erynthered Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Reports of the death toll are pretty wide. I'm reading anywhere from thousands to half a million. Sad.
Wooderson Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Reports of the death toll are pretty wide. I'm reading anywhere from thousands to half a million. Sad. Wow, just read that too. Sounds terrible. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake Bodies of tiny children were piled next to schools. Corpses of women lay on the street with stunned expressions frozen on their faces as flies began to gather.
Navy Chief Navy Pride Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Poor cities/countries, have poor construction and very little in the way of building codes. A city like Port Au Prince has very little chance of standing up to an earthquake or any other natural disaster. The majority of the buildings in Haiti are made of concrete and without rebar. ....not too mention very little emergency and recovery resources. One of the reports said that Port Au Prince has two functioning fire stations. When I was there in 97 if the rain came down too hard with a little bit of wind there was damage everywhere. I can't imagine what it looks like after this!!!
DC Tom Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Reports of the death toll are pretty wide. I'm reading anywhere from thousands to half a million. Sad. Half a million sounds high. I'd be shocked if it were less than 20k, though. Similar quakes in similar destitute regions that I can remember have death tolls in the 50k-100k range.
truth on hold Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 thoughts and prayers out to the victims and their families
erynthered Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Half a million sounds high. I'd be shocked if it were less than 20k, though. Similar quakes in similar destitute regions that I can remember have death tolls in the 50k-100k range. I'll agree it sounds high, hopefully its not anywhere near that number. Here's the one article that speculated the 500K. Your 50 - 100 is probably more in line with the real number. Staggering to say the least. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9...;show_article=1
Cugalabanza Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 It's hard to fathom how catastrophic this is to the people of Haiti. Even the low death toll estimates represent a significant reduction of their country's population, which is around 10 million. If you consider the numbers of injured, homeless, bereaved, out of a job, etc…, it's crushing.
Beerball Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Why oh why do all these major disasters happen to the poorest areas? Does God not like poor people? I'll be damned if Pat Robertson didn't answer your question! You know, Napolean the third or whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you get us free from the French. True story. And so, the Devil said, Ok, it's a deal. And they kicked the French out. God is paying back Haiti for pact with the devil, video link available
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