As we continued on our way to find the home we were staying in the damage began presenting itself to us. Never in my life have I seen anything like it. Some buildings were completely fine. Others had only small cracks or minor damage to the windows. From there it ranged all the way up to wondering if a pile of rubble could have possibly ever been a building at all.
Probably around fifty percent of the buildings seemed completely undamaged. In the remainder there were building like this one: formerly more than one story. I sometimes played the "guess how many stories it used to be" game. It was a lot harder than it seems at first, and I'm sure I guessed incorrectly a few times. The piles of rubble and trash were everywhere. While we would see people cleaning up and hauling away rubble, the city just didn't have the manpower to do the job. All of these photographs are taken a month or more after the earthquake, so you can imagine the pace of cleanups and how much longer it would take. I would not be surprised at all if I went back and saw some of the same piles and broken buildings to this day.
Another "how many stories was it?" structure. The pile of rubble must have come from clearing out the streets. This task is clearly one of the most important immediately after an earthquake, and it seemed the Haitians had been successful in opening transportation lines again. This particular pile reaches up to the ceiling of the first floor of the building behind it and almost to the lights on the telephone pole. It was not uncommon in size from several others I encountered.
I had trouble discerning the original purpose of many of the ruins I saw. This one, due to the size and location, I believe might have been a warehouse. Again, I'm not a hundred percent certain how many floors there were in the original blueprints, but I'm pretty sure I can point out at least three. The roof of the building which formerly stood at I would guess at least 30 feet high was now within reach of an outstretched arm while standing a street level.
"From there it ranged all the way up to wondering if a pile of rubble could have possibly ever been a building at all."
ReplyDeleteOr even a current home.. Powerful posts as always. I can't imagine what these people have gone through.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Looks rough, glad we're supporting them :)
ReplyDeleteWoah, you here about this all the time but it never truly brings it home to you until you've seen pictures.
ReplyDeleteWow, intense stuff..
ReplyDeleteIll pray for all of you.
ReplyDeleteMan, the pictures make all the difference. I feel upset just knowing that that was already a month into it..
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for them. I was watching this piece on Nightline where they spoke on the hoards of social problems they are encountering (rise in violence, escaped fugitives, rape, etc.).
ReplyDeleteHope they get through this plight.
disheartening photos =(
ReplyDeletei like seeing buildings like this they have more character
ReplyDeletePoor people who used to live there, it makes me sad looking at these photos and also happy that we don't have that kind of dissasters in country i live in.
ReplyDeleteThose poor people
ReplyDeletewow, guess how many stories it was...thats pretty crazy.
ReplyDeletewow, that's a ton of stuff that is gonna need to be cleaned up
ReplyDelete