The Haitian government has not issued a mortality estimate since January 28, when the government said that 112,405 had died. However, on February 3 the government said that as many as 200,000 may have been killed in the earthquake. Meanwhile, one of the major new developments of the past week has been a mass exodus from Port au Prince to rural areas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that over 400,000 Haitians have fled Port au Prince for rural areas in the past two weeks. Food distribution is still a challenge.
This document was just released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It contains information current as of January 31. As you can see, the needs are still great. Over 3 million people were affected by the earthquake. Over 112,000 people are confirmed killed and another nearly 200,000 injured.
By Myriam Annette, read part 1 of Myriam's
“Thanks to TSF’s calling operation, I could call my uncle in Venezuela. It was essential to reassure him about my family, to tell him that we all are alive. For me, the most important thing for survival is to keep the family connections, whatever the situation.”
By Mariko Hall, Consultant, Advocacy (IT Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch)
By Myriam Annette
More than a week has passed since a 7.0 earthquake shook Haiti and its capital city, Port-au-Prince. from the rubble tent cities have sprung up throughout the capital and in other affected areas of the country. For tens of thousands, bits of cardboard, a sheet, or perhaps a tattered mattress is now home.
The Center for Global Development ran an editorial on their blog today, calling for better financing for food aid. They argue that the current year-by-year system makes it hard for relief agencies to build their capacity, and leads to long delays in providing food aid when it is most needed. They make an excellent point.
From the UN Foundation:
Two days after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, UN Foundation Vice President of Global Health Dr. Daniel Carucci traveled to Haiti to deliver vital medical supplies and will continue to assess the situation on the ground.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake just hit Haiti. Details so far are sketchy. Twitter is probably your best source for now. In the meantime, it is worth recalling that Haiti is still recovering from back to back to back hurricaines in 2008. It is also a very densly populated island.
Considering how the end of 2009 is shaping up, 2010 may be the year of Yemen.
The country has been in the news quite a bit the last few days as the alleged potential Northwest Airlines bomber is said to have ties to extremists in Yemen, which is located just south of Saudi Arabia on the Arabian peninsula. The United States is also said to be expanding its covert operations in Yemen to target al Qaeda members who have a foothold there.