The Impact on Infrastructure

The destruction of infrastructure is massive. About 105,000 homes have been completely destroyed and more than 208,000 houses damaged. More than 1,300 educational institutions and more than 50 hospitals and health centers have collapsed or are unusable. The country’s principal port is partially out of action. The Presidential Palace, the Parliament, the Courthouse and the majority of Ministerial and Government buildings have been lost.  　　

Box 1: Assessment of Damage, Losses and Needs
 

Recovery and Reconstruction Needs based on the results of PDNA Working Groups    

      Main Messages
 

On January 12, 2010, shortly before 5pm, a Richter scale 7.3 earthquake, lasting 35 seconds, struck Haiti. This was the most powerful earthquake to strike the country for 200 years. The hypocenter of the earthquake was close to the surface of the earth (10 km deep) and its epicenter was close to the city of Léogâne, 17 km South West of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, in the Ouest Department. The effects were felt in the Ouest, Sud-Est and Nippes Departments. The area of Port-au-Prince (including the communes of Port-au-Prince, Carrefour, Pétionville, Delmas, Tabarre, Cité Soleil and Kenscoff) were massively damaged. 80% of the city of Léogâne was destroyed.

The earthquake has created an unprecedented situation, exacerbated by the fact that it has affected the most populated area of the country and its administrative and economic center. The situation is all the more tragic because, over the last three years, the country was experiencing a stabilization of the socio-political and security situations, economic growth and the beginnings of an improvement in people’s living conditions.

ENV　: Environment

GRD　: Disaster Risk Management

Figure: Suggested Needs by theme (up to 3 years)

Prepared by the Government of the Republic of Haiti, with the support of the international community

Damage and Losses by main themes

The total value of needs is US$11.5 billion and is distributed as to half in social sectors, 17% in infrastructure, including housing, and 15% in the environment and risk and disaster management. The estimate of needs is made as described above, based on a consolidation of the eight thematic teams’ work. (These estimates have not yet been cleared, nor prioritized or ratified by government. This only represents the first step in a much more detailed work in preparation of the donor conference scheduled in New York on March 31, 2010.)

Environmental indicators were already in the red, and the earthquake has increased pressure on the environment and natural resources, making the Haitian population extremely vulnerable.
 

To prepare an estimate of the damage, losses, and needs, for about a month, more than two hundred national and international experts have worked in eight thematic teams: governance, production, social sectors, infrastructure, territorial development, environment and disaster risk management, cross-cutting themes, and macro-economic analysis.

The total value of damage and losses caused by the January 12 earthquake is estimated at US $7,863 million, which is the equivalent of about more than 120% of the 2009 gross domestic product (GDP). In fact, in the 35 years that the Damage and Losses Assessment (DaLA) methodology has been applied, this is the first time that the cost of a disaster is so high relative to the size of a country’s economy.

Most damage and losses have been experienced by the private sector ($5,491 million or 70%), while the public sector part is $2,374 million (or 30% of the total).

The value of destroyed physical assets – including, inter alia, housing units, schools, hospitals, buildings, roads and bridges, ports and airports – has been estimated at $4,302 million (55% of the total effects of the disaster). The variation in economic flows (loss of production, reduction in turnover, loss of employment and salaries, increased costs of production, etc.) has reached $3,561 million (the equivalent of 45% of the total).

Housing is undoubtedly the sector most affected by the earthquake, given that the total damage is $2.3 billion. This figure includes the value of the destruction of housing units of various kinds and quality, the value of partially damaged houses and domestic property. In addition, housing losses are estimated at $739 million and involve the cost of providing temporary shelters, the cost of demolition and the value of rental income. The housing sector therefore represents roughly 40% of the earthquake’s impact. The other sectors, in decreasing order of magnitude in terms of the impact sustained, are trade (damage and losses of $639 million, or 8% of the total), transport and government buildings ($595 million each) and education and health (with an average of 6% of the total).