IMAGINE
SCENARIO-BASED APPROACHES TO RISK AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT
Imagine the following. An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Haiti on 12 January 2010, causing catastrophic damage to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region, with numerous powerful aftershocks. It has been reported that there are up to 200.000 dead, 250.000 people wounded and more than 3 million people directly affected. Up to one million people are in need of shelter throughout the country and there are up to 600.000 internally displaced people, 235.000 people have left Port-au-Prince and up to one million people could leave cities for the rural areas, putting pressure on already vulnerable communities there. Haiti, a country where some 1.8 million people were "food insecure" prior to the earthquake, in a country where close to 60% of the population live in rural areas and 70% live on less than USD 2 a day. In Haiti, decades of political instability had helped to weaken government institutions and the state's ability to provide basic public services prior to the earthquake, and the damage caused by the earthquake has paralysed the state's ability to respond actively to the relief effort, thereby aggravating the situation.
Was this preventable?