HOLY FRAK! Haiti got hit with a 7.0 Quake!

[Killian Kalthorne]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/...ates/index.html

 

There could be over 100,000 dead. This is damn awful.

[Humodour]

Holy **** that's horrible.

[Walsingham]

If only there were some way those 100,000 dead could all be people who believe there is an Earth Mother watching over us.

 

EDIT: I should say that I do feel sorry for Haiti, but given its history I was basically unable to feel any more sorry for it.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Walsingham

[Shryke]

isn't Haiti already the poorest country in the western world?

 

they just aren't catching any breaks are they...

[Guard Dog]

I donated! I wish I could do more.

[Rostere]

I might never understand why some people choose to live next to volcanoes or in earthquake-ridden areas. It's really kind of sad

[Hiro Protagonist]

In other news, the unemployment rate has gone down in Haiti and job vacancies are at a record high.

[Trenitay]

I might never understand why some people choose to live next to volcanoes or in earthquake-ridden areas. It's really kind of sad

 

We like the thrill. It's very exciting, you know.

[Vilhelm]

I might never understand why some people choose to live next to volcanoes or in earthquake-ridden areas. It's really kind of sad

 

Yeah, imagine all the poor fools in the United States, especially those close to the Yellowstone National Park, which is like a ticking timebomb which can explode anytime between now and the year 1,000,000 AD.

 

Everyone should just move to Greenland.

 

On a related note, it's sad to see that nations are so slow to offer a helping hand. It's funny to hear that one of the first rescue teams sent by a government to be dispatched to Haiti was a team from Iceland of all places.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Vilhelm

[Meshugger]

I have become very jaded through out the years. I only react that the number is high, but i feel little to none emotion about it. Maybe i simply fail to have an emotional connection to haitians. I do know however, on an intellectual and rational level, that catastrophes such as these are one the worst things that could happen to mankind as a whole.

[Rostere]

It's funny to hear that one of the first rescue teams sent by a government to be dispatched to Haiti was a team from Iceland of all places.

 

Why is that funny? Iceland lies in a highly volcanic area, they'll probably always have own rescue teams ready for occasions like this.

[Vilhelm]

It's funny to hear that one of the first rescue teams sent by a government to be dispatched to Haiti was a team from Iceland of all places.

 

Why is that funny? Iceland lies in a highly volcanic area, they'll probably always have own rescue teams ready for occasions like this.

 

It's funny because Iceland is slowly becoming the first OECD country to come close to bankruptcy. Of the Western nations, Iceland has probably the biggest right to shrug their shoulders and say "Sorry, but we don't have money for that."

[Guard Dog]

Here is a tragedy to compound a tragedy. The Port Au Prince airport is having to turn way planes full of food, medical supplies, search and rescue teams, etc because they can't get the planes on the ground unloaded and there is no fuel to refuel the outbound planes. What a complete mess. They need AvGas and loading equipment more than anything else. Forget the canned goods, anyone got a spare forklift?

[Killian Kalthorne]

What they should do, in my humble opinion, is to land the planes at the nearest airport outside the disaster area then use helicopters to airlift the aid in. Coordinate the aircraft carriers and other Naval ships that have large enough helo decks to act as refueling stations for these helicopters. Also have pilots in the planes who are trained in midflight refueling ops do the majority of the flying so they do not need to land in order to refuel.

 

Anyway, that is how I would do it.

[Gfted1]

If only they had you there to straighten the whole mess out.

[Killian Kalthorne]

If they did they probably be worse off.

[Walsingham]

Logistics is always a tricky business. Ever since I started reading military history I've had immense respect for the lazy bastards who do it professionally.

 

I say that because there is a whiff in the air of assuming that it should must be easy, and yeah from here it sounds easy. But you'll have a bjillion different agencies, most of them won't necessarily know who has what assets, and any time anyone tries to exert authority to centralise planning everyone will have a hissy fit. Then you have people with different priorities. One guy will want surgical supplies, but will be competing for space with a rubble rescue dog team, but they get into place to discover they can't do their job because they squeezed their military escort off the flight in. Then their cars get stolen.

 

You get the idea.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Scareware Purveyors, Spammers, and Crooks Take Advantage of Haiti Earthquake

[Walsingham]

I do have to add that while there's nothing wrong with the laudable relief efforts being made, a huge part of the problem seems to be the almost total absence of functioning government or infrastructure. 'Sick' countries get hit worst by natural disasters.

[Hiro Protagonist]

I just hope that any aid given has a carbon footprint of zero and has been offset for the sake of the environment and the world. Climate change and all that stuff.

[Killian Kalthorne]

I think that the carbon footprint thingie can be forgiven in this case. When the world fraks you, you have the right to frak it back.

[Moose]

I wonder why they don't just parachute the supplies.

[Syraxis]

I wonder why they don't just parachute the supplies.

 

[Moose]

That's why you parachute them onto a guarded runway. Still don't see the problem with the idea tbh.

[Walsingham]

That's why you parachute them onto a guarded runway. Still don't see the problem with the idea tbh.

 

Moose, you know as well as I do how inaccurate paradrops are. Guarding an area that big would be nearly as difficult as guarding and maintaining a proper airfield.