The earthquake of August 14, 2021 in the line of Matthew and the earthquake of 2010
With 2,248 dead, 53,000 homes destroyed and 83,000 damaged not to mention 127 schools, 60 religious buildings, 25 health facilities and hotels destroyed, one can expect a more disastrous economic toll than Matthew in October 2016.
The Economic Education program hosted by economist Etzer Emile on Radio Télé Caraïbes devoted several sessions to the economic impacts of the earthquake of August 14, 2021. On September 5, while waiting for the economic assessment of the damage, he reviewed the impacts of natural disasters that the country has experienced over the past thirty years. From 1998 to 2016, natural disasters have caused, he said, damage equivalent to over 12.5 billion U.S. dollars. The earthquake of January 12, 2010 and Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 alone caused losses approaching 153% of the country’s gross domestic product, or 11.3 billion dollars.
Along with political crises, natural disasters represent one of the main causes of poverty in Haiti. The head of the firm Haiti Efficace, says that there is, in both directions, a close link between natural disasters and poor countries. Unfortunately Haiti is in this category. “The more difficult it is to make investments to mitigate the risks associated with disasters, the greater the impact and the greater the impact, the poorer the country will be,” he says.
According to figures from the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC), this earthquake has a direct impact on over 190,000 people. In the affected areas, there is a scarcity of certain products, which, in the opinion of Etzer Emile, has a negative impact on the cost of these items, on the living conditions of these populations at a time when their income is increasingly limited.
HAITI IS IN 3rd place in the top 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events between 2000 and 2019 according to a study by Germanwatch
According to a study by the German NGO “Germanwatch”, Haiti is in third place after Puerto Rico and Myanmar in the ranking of the 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events 2000 and 2019, Haiti has suffered more than 78 events during this period. Climate hazards, the report continues, caused 2.81 deaths per 100,000 people in the country throughout the period. With this year’s earthquake, the losses caused by natural disasters over the last twelve years are expected to be around 200% of our GDP, impoverishing a larger portion of the population.
