Sattelite Photo of Port-au-Prince Haiti Devastation

Geoeye.com ^ | 1/14/10 | Geoeye.com

[Pagey]

Being that this is the Country of Haiti,(or heck anywhere people live) I’m pondering what happens when a family that did survive the earthquake, goes with out water for more than 3 days.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Excellent observation indeed.

Thank you.

[al_c]

There is smoke in this photo. And I’ve seen pics of badly burned victims. Maybe not widespread, but there have been fires.

[NavyCanDo]

I did’nt mean no fires, just the lack of them in comparison to if this would of hit a major US city. Even San Fransisco during the Great Quake was mostly destroyed by the fires that followed.

[al_c]

Oh, I know. Just relaying what I’ve seen. Yeah, the lack of utilities they have there I’m sure has a lot to do with that.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

“...country is such a S*** Hole you can hardly tell if its been hit by a major earthquake or not...”

I know. I have been there several times in the past not because I wanted to go there. What you are saying is very true. I agree. Haiti is such a corrupt, backward hell-hole...a learning experience but that is all. But the learning experience is important too.

[ctdonath2]

Amazing number of people are visible in the streets.

[TADSLOS]

Agreed. I think most Americans tend to project their own image of normalcy into a scene, then contrast it to the effects on the ground. In other words, we see ourselves in this situation and the ugliness of the environment is amplified. I doubt too many people existing in certain areas of Detroit or New Orleans would be as shocked to the scenery there because they live in similar conditions.

That doesn't take away from the enormity of human suffering in Haiti right now, but Haiti has been a hellhole long before this latest earthquake hit and I suspect it will stay one long after the last recovery aid worker leaves the scene.

In the meantime, all we can do is hope, pray and assist Haitians to the extent that we can.

[21twelve]

Here’s another link with before and after comaparisons. The one of the port shows how difficult things are/will be. Half the dock is under water, the rest is broken at the shore - probably laying on the shallow water. The two cranes are knocked down in the water. The white areas look like “sand blows” where the soil was liquified and the sand and water jets up through the asphalt. Weak conditions underneath.

http://www.popsci.com/node/42783