User:Arg036/sandbox

Looting According to ABC world news, Troops were called to help, the looting had gotten out of control. A quote from ABC news "An additional 3,500 United Nations police and soldiers were requested today to help keep the peace in earthquake-shattered Haiti as reports of looting have increased among the country's desperate survivors." According to the New york Times-- The study, based on a statistical analysis of data from 2,000 natural disasters over 40 years, estimates that the cost could be $7.2 billion to $13.2 billion, based on a death toll of 200,000 to 250,000; earlier estimates had hovered around $5 billion. Most of the looting is taking place in what used to be the main shopping district of Port-au-Prince. Tucked between the port and the central square (the location of the National Palace), it is a relatively small zone of some 20 blocks, extending from the sea high up into the surrounding hills. When the earth shifted on Jan. 12, the zone was one of the hardest hit in the city of some 2 million people. One of the fought-over items is tooth paste, which Haitians smear under their noses to mask the overpowering stench of decomposing bodies. More than 30 countries have been rushing in food, water, medicine, and rescue teams to the country since the quake hit, but the problem remains in how to get the supplies to the people who need it most. Roads blocked by towering piles of rubble, a damaged airport and a damaged seaport are all proving to be monumental obstacles for aid groups to get their supplies distributed. A good description to put in the mindset “Rifle shots echo through the rubble-strewn streets like firecrackers during Carnival. A cluster of hungry people scatter and run for their lives, clambering over mounds of collapsed walls and crushed cars. Around the corner, the desperate searchers regroup around a smashed-up storefront, and the pillaging of goods begins.”