Texas A&M Prof On Haiti Hurricane Aid And Where It's Gone Wrong Historically

Hurricane Matthew is the worst natural disaster to hit Haiti since the Great Earthquake of 2010, says Texas A&M Professor Andrew Natsios, the former CEO of USAID. Natsios says Haiti is a failed or very fragile state and has limited to no capacity to respond to the hurricane devastation. “Haiti has among the worst deforestation of any country in Latin America and the 15-25 inches of expected rain will cause mudslides and enormous damage to farming areas because the soils cannot absorb the rainwater,” he notes. The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the U.S. government’s first responders to natural disasters, prepositioned relief commodities in Haiti, Jamaica, and the Bahamas and sent in Disaster Assistance Response Teams before the hurricane actually struck, so they can respond immediately after the hurricane passes, Natsios explains.