Tierney draws another comparison between Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti by describing the people who were most affected by the disasters. She claims that Katrina affected people who were least able to help themselves, such as the poor and the disabled, but many people were able to escape. Haiti, however, is one of the poorest nations in the world. The majority of the population lives in chronic poverty. Katrina affected the only the most vulnerable segments of the Gulf Coast population, but in Haiti the entire population is vulnerable.
Haiti is different from the Gulf Coast in that the island nation ranks very low in health, levels of education, and household income. Unlike the United States, the nation of Haiti had a great deal of difficulty providing even the most basic services for its people before the disaster. The political system of the United States is relatively stable, but Haiti has suffered from "dictators,...
The disaster in Haiti is different from the catastrophe seen on the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina in that the people are less educated, have few available services, and have a long history of political instability. All of these factors create significant differences between the two disasters.
I agree with Tierney that the earthquake in Haiti bears few similarities to Hurricane Katrina. Haiti suffered disaster on a national rather than a regional level. Its infrastructure was severely damaged and an already vulnerable population was left even less able to care for its people than it was previously. Katrina, however, was on a regional level, the infrastructure was left intact, and the hurricane only affected the neediest segments of the population, while others were left relatively unscathed. For these reasons, the earthquake in Haiti and Hurricane Katrina are distinctly different.
