Miyamoto International

 

The Haitian Spirit

Journal Entry #3

 

January 21, 2010

Bright and early, we have a staff meeting at the PADF office. Dan tells me that many are still afraid to go into the undamaged offices to work. This is causing serious difficulty for their relief operations. He asks me to make a presentation about the structural safety of the building. After my short speech, Dan asks everyone, "Ok, who trusts Kit and will work in this building?" About 90% raised their hands. Well, I call it a success. In Port-au-Prince, people are really scared to go into buildings even if there is no damage because there are no structural engineers to tell them whether a building is safe or not. One can't blame them for being cautious. They have witnessed so much death in the city still shaken by frequent aftershocks.

It is another day at the office. Guilaine, Eric and I jump into the truck with energy bars and water bottles. Water is still scarce in the city. Some untreated water is flowing in parts of the city and people still are lining up at water trucks for hours to get potable water. Traffic is heavy, because so many roads are clogged by treacherous landslides, collapsed buildings and downed utilities. In many areas, power poles collapsed and electric lines hang over roads. We often have to stop to move downed power lines to get our car through. There is no power in the city but downed power lines are always a hazard. Days are bright, but I sure don't like the nights. Without power, the streets are dark and eerie. It will take many months to restore power to this city.

I see camps in every park and empty lot. Blue tarps against the back drop of white concrete rubble. These are obviously not good shelters and are easily blown apart. There are no bathrooms, either. This is one of the few disasters where I have not seen proper tents from the government, UN or other agencies. Even in the middle of the Sumatra - jungle, I saw a lot of UNESCO tents following the 2007 West Sumatra earthquake. In a couple weeks, the rainy season will start, then what? I don't know how Haitians are coping with such incredible hardship.

We stop at Guilaine's son's school. Sections have collapsed, but her son was okay. There is a large crowd in the school grounds. I see UN trucks with soldiers. At one truck, a couple of children are asking for hand outs from the soldier. He was not in a very charitable mood and shoos them away. Chaos is erupting at a mid-size truck in the distance. It is food distribution time. UN staffers are dumping sacks of rice on the ground. Sadly, the big strong men are getting all the food. An old lady comes to up to me and is yelling. I ask Guilaine to translate. She says, "She thinks you are with the UN and told you that you need to organize better. Women can't get the food. The brutes take all the food to sell at the market." The UN truck quickly empties its goods and speeds away. Fighting erupts within the frustrated mob. I quickly ask Guilaine to move on.

The finance ministry asks me to look at a few downtown buildings where they may want to relocate... Along the way, we see many horrors—a totally collapsed bank building, a half collapsed house with a "help me" sign, and a rock pile where a house used to be with the mother and daughter scavenging for their belongings. The girl's pink dress stands out vividly in the pile of debris and concrete.

When we get close to the Presidential Palace area, I start seeing US military. The Washington Post reported that another 4,000 US soldiers arrived in Haiti this weekend to supplement the 13,000 who are already here. It was the first time I was able to see them. Haitians told me they are keeping a low profile since it is politically sensitive.

We arrive at the former US consulate building. It is a 2-story concrete structure. We quickly tour the building with the finance director. We find only hairline cracks in the concrete. It is safe to occupy. I inform the team of my observations and we move on.

Unfortunately, right next door is a large half-collapsed building and a one-story concrete structure next to it. I don't see any damage in the one-story building. Even the tall, glass book shelf inside is unscathed from the earthquake. It is in mint condition. This is caused by the difference in natural frequency of the structures. The predominant ground motion frequency must be closer to that of the collapsed building. As I walk back to the truck, I see a little girl sitting quietly with her mom who has a bandaged knee. The little girl gives me a shy smile.

Next up is a former bank building that is 8-stories and constructed of concrete. Stair towers are located at the two corners and act as core shear walls. From the exterior, I don't see much damage. But, once we enter the building, I find diagonal shear cracks in many of the concrete block infill walls.

The building is structurally sound since the lateral system (the core shear walls) are intact. The damaged infill walls are nonbearing walls, but need to be repaired. These walls act as sacrificial piers to absorb the earthquake shock. The interior damage is extensive, but believe it or not, this building meets the intent of modern building codes from countries with good seismic standards.

These codes typically allow a building to experience extensive and even irreversible damage, as long as it does not collapse. This performance goal is completely inadequate for essential buildings, such as hospitals and emergency response facilities, which must remain operational immediately after a major earthquake.

For commercial and residential buildings, such damage would lead to extensive occupancy interruption, necessitating many months of repair before they can be reoccupied. Companies will go out of business and countless people will be living in tents and inadequate conditions for many months to come.

Interior damage at the former bank building includes significant collapse of suspended ceilings. Upon closer inspection, I see no lateral braces anywhere.

Good seismic design practice is to have spray wires (in all directions) at 12 foot centers and compressions struts to prevent vertical displacement and collapse. We climb up to the roof. In the distance, it is difficult to see the damage in the city. But, the collapsed Presidential Palace and National Cathedral remind us of the stark reality. I see the mountain range in South where the ruptured earthquake fault line lay. The sound of helicopters echo heavily in the afternoon air.

We visit the house of a government official. In the courtyard, I find half a dozen young children clustered around. I approach them and say hello. They smile and say hello back. A little boy with a big bandage on his little forehead just looks at me with his big eyes. He reminds me of my son.

He is cared for by two older sisters that are about the same age as my two daughters. I feel for them. Apparently these children were alone and sitting around outside the compound for days until the owner of the house brought them in and provided food and shelter for them.

We drive to a construction equipment company near the airport. The owner shows me a totally collapsed concrete building in the plant. He says, "I am so grateful to God that no one was hurt. One employee was buried alive, but we are able to dig him out, uninjured! Thank you, God." I see tears in his eyes. Next door, there are two steel industrial buildings with very little damage. Steel structures are light and produce less inertia forces than heavy, non-ductile concrete buildings which is why they are generally very earthquake resistant.

I notice that his plant yard is occupied by refugees. I see this situation often in other disasters. Plant yards and any open space become emergency shelters. I see a lot of children and women. A lone security guard with a 12-gage shot gun stands by boringly watching the crowd.

The owner tells me, "I open the door for them, because they have nowhere else to go. But now, I don't know what to do. It is not easy to operate, but I hope to help these people as long as possible." He smiles. This must be one of the biggest challenges he has ever faced as a business owner.

He lost half of his facility and he doesn't know how and when he can resume his business. But this is his country and he is helping his people. He smiles brightly. The Haitian spirit lives strong. As we drive back to our office in the sunset, I realize that we have not eaten anything all day. But, I don't feel hungry, when I consider that there are so many people without shelter and food.

 

End of Journal Entry #3

« Haiti Landing Page
« Dispatch Release
« Return to Overland to Haiti, Entry #1
« Return to Of National Importance, Entry #2
« Continue to The Presidential Palace: A Fractured Icon, Entry #4