Haiti: Cholera, Hurricane, But Otherwise in Rough Shape

"Cholera death toll rises in hurricane-hit Haiti"
Latin America & Caribbean, BBC News (November 6, 2010)

"Leogane bore the brunt of Hurricane Tomas rainfall

"The death toll from the current cholera epidemic in Haiti has exceeded 500, the country's health ministry has said.

"Fifty-nine people had died up until and including Thursday, and 617 others had been infected, bringing the total affected to 7,359, the ministry added.

"The news came as the local authorities and relief agencies attempted to get clean drinking water to those areas worse affected by Hurricane Tomas.

"The storm caused flooding and left eight people dead in western Haiti...."

The Lemming remembers a blurb for an episode in Michael Landon's overwrought Little House on the Prairie series that went something like this: "The Ingals are trapped in a burning barn with a rabid skunk as flood waters rise." (If you're a Little House fan, please don't be offended. I found the series to be a trifle schmaltzy, but my wife likes it - and so do a great many other folks. Tastes vary.)

News from Haiti, since the January earthquake, has been a bit like some of those Little House episodes: one appalling disaster after another.

I suppose it could be worse: We could be reading about Hurricane Virginie, building strength to finish what Tomas started. (There isn't a Hurricane Virginie, yet - as far as I could tell.)

And, things could have been a lot worse, from Tomas: At least, according to this:

"Haiti Avoids Hurricane Disaster, But Cholera Toll Rises"
RTT News (November 6, 2010)

"Hurricane Tomas spared Haiti the worst of its fury even as its residents struggle to recover from last January's devastating earthquake. However, the storm caused flooding that has killed eight people and increased concerns that the deluge of rain could help spread cholera, according to media reports quoting government officials...."

Are November hurricanes rare? Yes. But, as an article's title said, decades ago: "Long Range Weather Forecast: Crazy." The gist of it was that climatologists and meteorologists had taken a look at what they knew about long cycles in ocean currents and large-scale weather phenomena like the jet stream - and noticed that we'd had a period of unusually nice, clement, weather. That was ending. The Lemming would have made note of the publication and date, but at the time I didn't realize that 'climate change' would be a sort of cult in the early 21st century.

Back to Haiti.

No pressure, but folks there can use help. I put together a list of charities early this year, along with links to related posts. I've updated post links, but haven't checked on every charity. If the link's dead: well, there are others. Also, I haven't checked out every charity there. It's a good idea to find out who you are giving your money to: but I figure you can do that to your satisfaction better than I could.

Here's that post:

• "Haiti: About the Earthquake, Relief, and Related Topics"