Haitian Winnipeggers reel as they watch fallout from severe earthquake

Arisnel Mesidor is wondering how much more Haiti can take.

From thousands of kilometres away, the Winnipeg immigration consultant has been watching his home country grapple with a devastating magnitude 7.2 earthquake that has killed nearly 2,000 people, just weeks after Haiti's president was assassinated.

"Why all that for a small little country?" Mesidor asked."Why so much misery for a people who has suffered a lot?"

Saturday's earthquake struck the southwestern part of Haiti, injuring thousands of people and nearly destroying some towns, leaving many Haitianshomeless.

As if a massive earthquake were not enough, heavy rain from Tropical Storm Grace forced a temporary halt to the government's response and humanitarian aid earlier this week.

As of Tuesday evening,the death toll from the quake had reached more than 1,900, with 9,900reported injured.

Mesidor says the country has never fully recovered from the 2010 earthquake inthe capital city of Port-au-Prince that killed more than 200,000 people.

Haiti is also grappling with rampant gang violence and a fragile political situation, he said.

"It is very very desperate at this time," he said in a Tuesday interview with CBC News.

Mesidor says fortunately, his family is safe since they are located in the northern region of Haiti, away from the epicentre of the earthquake.

"As for friends, every Haitian rightnow would know somebody who would be directly or indirectly impacted by the situation."

Learning from past

Barthlemy Bolivar left Haiti 20 years ago, but still maintains strong connections to his home country, visiting nearly every year and even teaching an online course to university students there.

He's currently working with other members of the Haitian community to connectpeople on the ground with humanitarian aid, medical supplies, equipment and money.

"The response from the local stateI wouldn't say it's non-existent, but it's not what it should be," he told CBC on Tuesday.

But the population has learned many things from the earthquake in 2010, he said, so individuals and communities are more prepared.

For example, people knew to get out of their homes this time around, and so avoided beingcrushed when they collapsed following the quake.

Bolivar believes that has helped keep the death tolllower than in 2010.

Officials have said the magnitude 7.2 earthquake destroyed more than 7,000 homes and damaged nearly 5,000, leaving some 30,000 families homeless. Hospitals, schools, offices and churches also were demolished or badly damaged.

Haitian Winnipegger reels as he watches fallout from severe earthquake

3 years ago

Duration 8:41

A Haitian Winnipegger is worried for family and friends in the country hit by a severe earthquake and then a tropical storm.

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