We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » A journey through hell in Haiti
newsworthy

A journey through hell in Haiti

April 8, 2010
Mark B. Solomon
No Comments

When John T. "Jock" Menzies, president of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), visited earthquake-ravaged Haiti in late March, he had an abstract idea of what he would encounter.

Being face to face with the reality was another matter.

The capital of Port-au-Prince and the Western city of Leogane at the quake's epicenter each resembled, to Menzies, a modern-day Dante's Inferno. Large areas of both cities were covered in dust, he said, the residue from pulverized structures, exhaust from burning diesel fuel, and huge rubbish fires set in a desperate effort to incinerate waste that otherwise would have been routed through now-ruined sanitation systems.







Menzies saw streets choked with rubble and makeshift housing—with crude roofs often made out of cloth—erected next to destroyed homes. He witnessed mountains of trash and litter being picked over by humans and animals alike. He saw roads hopelessly clogged by merchant storefronts that had literally been moved off their sidewalk moorings and into the street. Traffic in Port-au-Prince was at a standstill most of days he was there, Menzies noted. At night, the capital's streets would be transformed into ghostly thoroughfares with the movement of stray individuals and motorbikes barely visible through the eerie gloaming.

For Menzies, who returned to the United States March 28 after a weeklong trip to meet with non-governmental agencies (NGOs) working with ALAN, the images were searing. "You know what to expect, but until you touch it and smell it, you just don't get it," he said.

Three months after the Jan. 12 quake that left approximately 230,000 dead and 750,000 homeless, Haiti remains a basket case of near-epic proportions. Water treatment systems lie in ruins and drainage canals have been badly compromised, raising fears that flooding during Haiti's traditional April-May rainy season and possible summer hurricanes to follow might trigger another humanitarian disaster. Nearly 2,000 schools, hospitals, and health centers have been destroyed. About 25 million cubic yards of debris lie scattered, enough rubble to cover Washington, D.C.'s National Mall to a height of 700 feet, according to a report in The Washington Post. To put the magnitude of the damage in perspective, the Washington Monument is 555 feet high.

In addition, Haiti's central government has been, in Menzies' words, "decapitated" both in terms of leadership and infrastructure.

The bureaucratic void has created chaos. For example, the government requires NGOs to submit written reports chronicling the situation and their needs. However, it lacks the resources and manpower to process the paperwork. As a result, NGO representatives must re-hash their findings in face-to-face meetings with government officials often conducted in a linguistic cacophony of English, French, and Creole.

Supply chain getting back on track
After an initially nightmarish start when relief supplies would arrive in Haiti by air and then be abandoned in random locations because there were no consignees to sign for them, the supply chain has made positive strides, Menzies said. Today, goods flow relatively freely into the Port of Haiti and Port-au-Prince International Airport, though airport capacity remains tight relative to the enormous demand, he said. Most shipments are properly signed for and reach their intended destinations, though ground deliveries in the country remain an adventure, Menzies said.

And yet there are anecdotes that remind Menzies of the yawning logistical gaps that still exist. In one refugee camp, medical personnel used their personal credit cards to buy food and water because the relief supplies on hand were inadequate.

For ALAN, which was created in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina to serve as a conduit between the resources of the logistics community and disaster relief agencies needing supply chain support, Haiti was the largest-scale disaster it has yet confronted. Menzies said he has been satisfied with ALAN's response and performance. Still, he acknowledges there were areas that need improvement.

For example, ALAN could be more precise and focused in connecting logistics companies, relief groups, and the needs at hand, he said. Menzies also found that while the leading NGOs had solid knowledge of the nuances of international logistics, the second-tier organizations, for the most part, did not. "One of our jobs is to help point [the secondary groups] in the right direction and support them with the necessary resources," he said.

Menzies knows that, sadly, there will be another time and place for ALAN's services. For now, though, the attention remains focused on Haiti, which he said would not be restored to pre-quake conditions for at least three years. A group called Hands On Disaster Relief (HODR) recently asked ALAN to help find a volunteer with warehouse management and logistics experience to serve as a consultant in Leogane during May. HODR has established a Joint Logistics Base in Leogane, about one hour from Port-au-Prince. The base will support the operations of various relief agencies active in the area, it said.

Menzies and the thousands of relief workers with boots on the ground in Haiti share one common fear: that the world has already put Haiti in the rear-view mirror and in short order, will forget about the misery that still very much plagues its people. "The attention to disaster relief anywhere in the world quickly falls off," he said. "People will say to themselves, 'Well, we've done enough,' and they then move on to the next issue. It would be a tragedy if that happened here."

how supply chain players can support disaster relief—today and tomorrow

Three months after a devastating earthquake, Haiti remains in terrible crisis. For companies still looking to lend supply chain resources or expertise to the task in Haiti or that want to be ready when the next disaster strikes, John T. "Jock" Menzies, head of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), offers the following suggestions:

  • Make contact with one of the many agencies active in disaster relief ahead of time, as they have difficulty assimilating spontaneous volunteers at the time of an event. Your state will have a group known as Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). Go to the National VOAD website, www.NVOAD.org, to find a link to your state VOAD.
  • Review agency needs as they are posted on the National Donations Management Network (NDMN). The network is accessible through the ALAN website (www.ALANaid.org). After Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established the NDMN as a collection point for donations for VOADs. Since then, the NDMN has been enhanced to allow VOADs to post needs as well. The network approach has been adopted by 46 states and jurisdictions in the United States.
  • Become familiar with the emergency response structure in your area. Typically, states have an emergency management office or agency. During an emergency, an Emergency Operations Center will be established to serve as the meeting and coordination points for VOAD, state, and federal relief efforts. ALAN will be happy to provide guidance, if requested.
  • Be prepared yourself. Government and relief agencies are unable to provide for individual needs in the first hours or days after a major disaster. FEMA's website includes a number of helpful preparedness tips.
Supply Chain Services
KEYWORDS ALAN - American Logistics Aid Network
  • Related Articles

    A "slow ramp to hell"

    Penske donates $1 million in used trucks to support Haiti relief efforts

    Butterflies are pretty, but they are hell on a supply chain.

Marksolomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Recent Articles by Mark Solomon

Coming together for road safety: interview with Joshua Girard

Off the rails

Freight rate spikes shaking up the C-suite

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Outlook 2023: What’s in store for logistics/supply chain?

  • Ports, maritime operators see tide turning as ocean freight tsunami subsides

  • In Person: Steve Beverly of Penske

  • InPerson interview: Rob McKeel of Fortna

  • Shipping groups back bipartisan trucking overhaul bill

Now Playing on DCV-TV

89cfed30 8aac 4284 960d c8c8c1886e16

Have you checked your read rate lately?

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
No reads. Unaccounted for boxes. Boxes sent to the wrong place. A logistics nightmare! But this nightmare doesn’t have to come true. SICK’s linear line scan camera is what dreams are made of for your logistics operations. And if you’re worried about motion and vibration from conveyor belts...well, there’s no reason...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • The five best applications for robotic lift trucks in warehouse environments

  • Fulfillment Facility Improved Efficiencies by 4x

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • Reusable Packaging for the New Wave of Supply Chain Automation

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing