A Forgotten Disaster – Episode 5: Haiti Moves – Against All Odds
An unprecedented massive damage assessment has been completed in Haiti for the purpose of starting the reconstruction process. In the aftermath of the devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake of August 2021, the Haitian Ministry of Public Works (MTPTC) initiated earthquake damage and repair assessments across the affected regions south of the island in partnership with UNOPS (United Nations Office of Project Services) and Miyamoto International as technical partners. The project was financed by the World Bank.
More than 550 Haitian engineers and social communicators were trained and equipped with advanced technology to not only track damage indexes, but also identify repair methods and costs in real-time. Each engineer and social communicator was assigned to one of 20 divisions, which were then sent to the affected areas to perform assessments with an advanced application and geographic information recording system.
In an astonishing five months, these teams assessed 179,861 buildings in extremely challenging terrain such as steep mountains, jungles, and dense urban areas. 1.2 million people were reached during the course of the assessments.
About Todd Danielson
Todd Danielson has been in trade technology media for more than 20 years, now the editorial director for V1 Media and all of its publications: Informed Infrastructure, Earth Imaging Journal, Sensors & Systems, Asian Surveying & Mapping, and the video news portal GeoSpatial Stream.
