By — Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/slide-show-haitis-crushing-quake Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Haiti’s Crushing Quake World Jan 15, 2010 6:43 PM EDT Haiti’s earthquake was “a catastrophe of monumental proportions,” said Nick Birnback, spokesman for the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The Caribbean nation was still mending from a series of major storms in 2008 and deep-seated political problems when the quake struck. Many countries want to provide aid, but the sea port was demolished in the earthquake and the airport in Port-au-Prince is ill-equipped to handle such a high volume of supply aircraft, said Birnback. “So as tends to happen in these emergency relief situations following a catastrophic event, there’s a bottleneck,” he said. “The trick is to coordinate the distribution of aid to make sure that it gets to where it needs to go as quickly as possible.” A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now By — Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko produced multimedia web features and broadcast reports with a focus on foreign affairs for the PBS NewsHour. She has reported in places such as Jordan, Pakistan, Iraq, Haiti, Sudan, Western Sahara, Guantanamo Bay, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Turkey, Germany and Ireland. @NewsHourWorld
Haiti’s earthquake was “a catastrophe of monumental proportions,” said Nick Birnback, spokesman for the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The Caribbean nation was still mending from a series of major storms in 2008 and deep-seated political problems when the quake struck. Many countries want to provide aid, but the sea port was demolished in the earthquake and the airport in Port-au-Prince is ill-equipped to handle such a high volume of supply aircraft, said Birnback. “So as tends to happen in these emergency relief situations following a catastrophic event, there’s a bottleneck,” he said. “The trick is to coordinate the distribution of aid to make sure that it gets to where it needs to go as quickly as possible.” A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now