Haiti: One Year On

This time last year I was just beginning this little blogging endeavor and my first post dealt with the tragic earthquake in Haiti and looking behind the disaster to tell you a little bit more about the poorest nation in the Northern hemisphere. You can find it here, Haiti:Behind the Quake.

The devastating quake occurred on the 12th of January 2010, measuring a crippling 7 on the Richter scale. The earthquake left 1.5 million people homeless and 800,000 people, more than half of that number are still living in tents in the capital Port au Prince. The earthquake took the lives of between 95,000 and 220,000 people and the conditions in the tents are making life incredibly tough for those Haitians facing a challenging relief effort.

Earl Closes in on the East Coast

Every hurricane season the media latches on to the prospect of another storm reaking catastrophic damage to the people of the Carribean and the US. This year it is the turn of hurricane Earl to get it moment in the spotlight, and it couldnt have come at a worse time, on the Eve of the Labour Day weekend in the US that would usually draw scores of Americans to the beach one last time before the Summer bids farewell.

The strength of the hurricane had been moved to a category four storm before being downgraded. However, as of 3A.M this morning it had again been upgraded with winds as strong as 135 miles per hour. The Hurricane has also been generating waves as high as 50 feet and is certainy the strongest of the 2010 Hurricane season.

Behind the Quake

The news channels are currently and rightly devoting almost 100% of there air time to the devastating effects of the recent earthquake in Haiti with expected death tolls varying from 50,00 to 500,000 among those UN workers and members of the Government.

However, as I watched the slow slivers of news trickle in and the auto cue spew its facts to the newsreaders about ort au Prince and the crippling damage caused by the 2008 Hurricane season, I could only think of one thing. How soon will it all be forgotten?