Catastrophe in Haiti

A number of reporters flew into the DR and then travelled by land to Haiti, and they have uniformly reported that the roads between the DR and Haiti are not really truck amenable roads. That said, trucks have been making the journey with relief supplies.

The DR fought for its independence from Haiti, so it is no surprised that Dominicans are cautious about opening their border to Haitian refugees. And I have heard the thought voiced that when you share an island with a nation that has been sitting at the absolute top of the disaster scale for decades, earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc. change things, but don't really make things any worse, because there isn't any worse.

I still have not heard one word about any damage in D.R..
Has anyone?

I don't think there was any damage in the DR. Here's an article that says so. Looks like a 6.1 aftershock just hit Haiti again.

Thanks dntw8up for the info, I've been to the DR (and not in the resorts) and know there is a lot of history between the two co-habitants of Hispanola, much if it not good.

Sean

When I worked in DR it seemed like the Hatians were defenitely looked upon as a "lower" class. The road that goes to the boarder is bad, and during heavy rain is usually pretty much impassable, but the mountains are incredible. The boarder entry is just a shach at the side of the road. The road going down the mountain into Hati is treacherous.

Here is a link to a group that is helping with the actual rebuilding of Hati

http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/programs/haiti-earthquake-rebuilding

This is where I'm putting my money.

Still no word from or about my niece's aunt.

"...From volunteer medical teams who show up uninvited, to stateside donors who ship boxes of unusable household goods, misdirected compassion can actually tax scarce resources, costing time, money, energy — and lives, experts say...A handful of “Help Haiti” food and clothing drives across the country are inspiring cringes among some workers, said Diana Rothe-Smith, executive director of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, a coalition of agencies...Donations of old clothes, canned goods, water...are accumulating, said Brooks. While such items sound useful, they’re actually expensive to sort, to transport and to distribute, she said...The compassion behind some donations is understandable...People see dire images on television or in news reports and they want to help...The reality, however, is that inappropriate donations actually do more harm than good. “If you buy a can of peas and it costs 59 cents, it’ll cost about $80 to get it where it needs to go,” Rothe-Smith said...“When people give $1, it translates into $7 in the field,” he said...If they give us $5, we can get $35 worth of water.”...“I would really say at this point, honestly, right now, money is the best thing to give,” Rothe-Smith said."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34958965/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/