Haiti Demo

After the earthquake, the work of rebuilding Haiti is beginning. There have been some amazing stories of survival. The teen pulled out of rubble yesterday was truly miraculous. Who knows, maybe and hopefully a few more can be pulled out alive. Alas, time is not on their side.

The first step in reconstruction is demolishing and carting away the old and crumbled. That process is under way but it does not appear that there is a clear and coherent overall plan to this aspect of the work. That does not bode well.

Our hope is that somehow they can rebuild knowing that a future earthquake is coming and designing structures that have a better chance of surviving such calamity.

Miami Herald: Before rising again, Haiti needs to tear down

The government estimates that 25,000 government offices and businesses either toppled or need to be demolished. In addition, there are 225,000 residences that are no longer habitable.

In all, some 2.1 billion cubic feet of concrete and rubble need to be hauled out of the city.

While demolition on a massive scale may not be taking place, rubble removal is. The United Nations Development Program has 12,000 people cleaning up debris from buildings that have toppled into the street and other public places. By next week, they hope to have 50,000 people clearing roads under the jobs-for-work program.