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The Inter-American Development Bank, (IADB) says the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti "is the most destructive (natural disaster) a country has ever experienced when measured in terms of the number of people killed as a share of the country's population."

.A Sports Utility vehicle driving up to one of the many tent cities that have sprung up in and around Port au Prince, Haiti following the January 12th earthquake. It is estimated that as many as 700 camps (make-shift housing) are spread throughout Port-au-Prince, its suburbs and outlying rural villages. The earthquake destroyed many buildings, killed an estimated 200,000 persons and left several hundred thousand persons homeless

“The total cost of the destruction in Haiti, resulting from the major earthquake last month, could add up to twice the value of the country's annual economy,” says the report.

The study, which was conducted by three Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) economists, said that the earthquake was more devastating than the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was for Indonesia, and five times deadlier than the 1972 earthquake that leveled Nicaragua's capital. The report was released on Tuesday, February 16, 2010, and estimated that the Haiti earthquake damages could reach nearly US$14B.

A report in the New York Times stated that the study was "based on a statistical analysis of data from 2,000 natural disasters over 40 years" and made its estimates "based on a death toll of 200,000 to 250,000. Earlier damage estimates had hovered around US$5 billion".

A Reuters report stated that the IADB Economists, Andrew Powell, Eduardo Cavallo and Oscar Becerra calculated a base estimate of US$8.1 billion in damages estimated for a 250,000 dead-or-missing toll. But they estimated this figure was likely to be at the low end and concluded that an estimate of US$13.9 billion damages was within the statistical margin of error.



Aid Flow Won't Cushion Economic Loss

"Ten years after the disaster, Haiti's economic output is likely to be roughly 30% lower than it otherwise would have been," the study added. "This is the case even given significant increases in aid flows that tend to occur after a major disaster. While aid can help, this does underline the challenge ahead for Haiti and for the international community attempting to support the country," the study continued.

The long-term loss of jobs due to the disaster means Haiti's homeless and jobless population as a result of the quake will be a long-term challenge which has serious public health, social, psychological and economic implications.

The large number of amputees who had limbs cut off due to wide scale crush injuries from the earthquake is also expected to severely hamper Haiti's economic recovery. The Los Angeles Times examined the plight of those who lost limbs from earthquake-related injuries in an article published Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

"No one knows how many [amputees] there are, although the number is clearly in the thousands. And no one knows what sort of future there will be for this new generation of the disabled in Haiti, where the loss of a limb in the past could condemn a person to a life on the margins, in a society where even the able-bodied struggle to get by," the article stated.

The TIMES Magazine has also explored the prospects for Haiti's amputees, efforts to assist them and how the large number of amputations could influence the rebuilding effort.

"By the end of the year, there could be as many as 150,000 quake amputees, which is "almost 2% of the nation's 9 million people," the magazine wrote.

"So can the country ever move ahead if such a large share of it has so much trouble moving at all, without the prosthetic help needed to be productive again?" The February 17th article queried. According to The TIMES, artificial-limb donations are beginning to trickle into Haiti and doctors are urging charities, especially in the U.S., to collect used prosthesis, as the late Princess Diana convinced them to do for land-mine victims.

"But it's obvious that Haiti can't rely on foreigners to fill such a vast order, or to provide the necessary physical therapy its amputees will require to be able to use them at all," The article continued.



Haiti's Homeless

Widespread homelessness is another of the myriad problems that the disaster has created in a country which was classified as the poorest in the Western Hemisphere even before the earthquake. Based on recent media reports, as many as 700 camps (make-shift housing) are spread throughout Port-au-Prince, its suburbs and outlying rural villages. Disaster experts say some of the needs of the homeless, such as clean water and medical care, can be addressed in months. However, other needs, such as the rebuilding of their homes and school, will take years and tens of billions of dollars.

According to a report in the USA Today newspaper, 55 aid groups along with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) "have distributed 52,000 tarps and 23,000 tents and the agencies are expecting thousands more tents in the next two weeks.”

USAID's administrator, Rajiv Shah, says The USA's aid contribution to Haiti was US$450 million as of Friday, February 19, 2010. Figures of recovery aid from other countries were not immediately available.

However, despite the massive amount of aid that is been pouring into Haiti, there are many Haitians affected by the quake that have not received any disaster relief supplies or services. In addition, the needs of many of those reached are not being fully met. At least one United Nations official has expressed his dissatisfaction with the post disaster relief efforts in Haiti and what the UN has been able to achieve.

The Washington Post reported on February 18th the leaked contents of a confidential e-mail by John Holmes, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs. In the e-mail, Holmes expressed disappointment in the sluggish nature of the implementation of the UN’s humanitarian ‘cluster strategy,’ which assigns key UN relief agencies responsibility for coordinating the delivery of basic needs in 12 sectors including water and shelter.

According to Holmes, several clusters have "yet to establish a concise overview of needs and develop coherent response plans, strategies and gap analyses."

"UN officials confirmed the authenticity of the email but Holmes' office declined to comment on it," the Post said.

.A toddler walks among make shift tents in the La Plaine area North of of Port au Prince. The area is among several communities in Haiti that were severely affected by the January 12th earthquake which destroyed almost all the buildings in Port au Prince and some areas in the vicinity of the country’s capital. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake also damaged and destroyed buildings in other areas more than 20 miles outside Port au Prince. More than 200,000 persons are estimated to have died due to the quake.