Suffering and struggle: Six months after the Haitian earthquake

A scene in Haiti shortly after the earthquake this year

Six months after an earthquake destroyed much of Haiti and killed more than 300,000 people, little has been done for the survivors. The promises by the United Nations and the major powers, particularly the United States, have produced only a trickle of aid. Of the billions promised at a series of conferences, amid much media publicity, only 2 percent has actually been delivered.

The scale of the devastation produced by the worst natural disaster of the twenty-first century still staggers the imagination. The death toll was at least 300,000, and by some estimates nearly 500,000, out of a total population of 8 million—the worst disaster, in terms of the proportion of the population, in modern history. The equivalent in a country the size of the United States would be a death toll of 10 to 20 million. Virtually all the deaths were caused by the collapse of homes and other buildings in Haiti’s urban centers, particularly the overcrowded slums of Port-au-Prince, the capital city. Some 188,000 homes were damaged, according to one survey, of which 105,000 were completely destroyed, along with 1,300 schools, 50 hospitals, the presidential palace, the parliament building and the port of Port-au-Prince.

An estimated 25 million cubic meters of rubble, much of it concrete and steel rods, remains the principal physical obstacle to both reconstruction and everyday life. Less than 5 percent has been removed since the quake, and debris continues to block streets and roads and fills up much of the land surface of the shantytowns that once surrounded Port-au-Prince. BBC: Audio slideshow: Living in the rubble.