Haiti's Cultural Capital Jacmel Damaged In Quake
A Haitian vendor in Jacmel - A Haitian vendor walks past a collapsed building in Jacmel on Tuesday, a week after the country was shattered by a massive magnitude-7 earthquake. The Haitian government said 70,000 bodies had been buried in mass graves since the quake flattened much of the impoverished Caribbean nation, triggering a massive humanitarian crisis. Officials fear the eventual death toll could top 200,000. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
On Haiti's southern coast, the country's fourth-largest city, Jacmel, is known for its arts and French colonial architecture. In the first days after the Jan. 12 quake, it was largely cut off from the rest of Haiti.
The road to Jacmel is a narrow, two-lane highway that just reopened. Portions of the road are cracked and look in danger of sliding down the mountain. Rock slides that blocked the road have been recently cleared, but it's still a hair-raising journey.
"Everything was moving," Jacmel resident Paule Baruk recalled. "You know what it means — everything?"
Baruk has lived with her husband, Moro, in Jacmel for 30 years. She says she was sitting outside with friends when the earthquake hit.
"Suddenly we heard the noise coming from the earth — it was terrible," she said.
Jacmel's historic section near the waterfront — mostly two-story stone buildings with ironwork and balconies reminiscent of New Orleans' French Quarter — is now in ruins. Baruk says she doesn't know how she'll pay for the repairs to her house.
Georgette Douge is a friend of the Baruks' who says she has decided to leave the country and move back to New York.
"Downtown is finished completely, so we need help to rebuild everything and reconstruct Jacmel," Douge said.
Residents think their best hope lies in convincing architecture and historic preservation groups to come in to help rebuild and restore Jacmel's treasures.
Cleanup already is under way. Canadian troops arrived this week and immediately began using shovels to clear streets of rubble.
Compared with Port-au-Prince, the devastation is manageable. Except for the old section, individual buildings — not entire neighborhoods — were demolished in the earthquake.
There were deaths in Jacmel. But they are in the hundreds — not the tens of thousands of dead in Port-au-Prince. Jacmel is a city where rebuilding seems possible and which already is starting to grow.
At Jacmel's bus station, vehicles arrive steadily from Port-au-Prince, overloaded with passengers. It's a similar scene at provincial cities all over Haiti.
Yolande Nelson says she has returned to her hometown because there really is no other choice.
"Things are really dangerous in Port-au-Prince because people are dying. We are running for our life because of the earthquake that's killing people in Port-au-Prince," she said.
But no one is certain where all the newcomers will live in Jacmel.
There are five encampments in town of people whose houses were destroyed or are too dangerous to sleep in.
While fewer homes were demolished and there are fewer dead and injured than in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel has its share of tragedy.
Natasha Etienne was part of a small crowd examining a pile of rubble that used to be a school. She was asked how many students died.
"I really don't know because there are so many people who died inside," she said.
Not far from the school, a crowd was gathered around a house where a search-and-rescue team was working.
The team had pulled a baby out of the crushed house, seven days after the earthquake.
One man standing by watching exclaimed, "That's a miracle, man. A miracle."
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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Im Renee Montagne.
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
And Im Steve Inskeep.
We are just beginning to get a glimpse of the scale of destruction beyond the capital of Haiti. This morning we'll travel outside Port-au-Prince to report on the aftermath of last weeks earthquake.
MONTAGNE: We'll hear from the Haitian city of Jacmel. Its on the southern coast. Its known for art and French colonial architecture, and as we heard this week on MORNING EDITION, tourism officials had been promoting its potential for future business.
NPRs Greg Allen went to see what remains of Jacmel now.
GREG ALLEN: The road to Jacmel is a narrow two-lane highway thats just reopened. As were driving, we see portions where the road is cracked and looked in danger of sliding down the mountains. Rock slides that block the road have been recently cleared but its still a hair-raising journey. After a few hours drive, we finally arrived at beach front town that until last week could be called charming.
Mr. WESHEL JEAN(ph): You see this (unintelligible) book called "Lonely Planet." You see my name on a page, on page 381. (Unintelligible) tourists around here. There was a lot of tourists but right now there is none.
ALLEN: Weshel Jean is a guide who seems to know everything and everybody in Jacmel, including most of the large expatriate community. People like Paul Baruch(ph).
Ms. PAUL BARUCH: Everything was moving. Do you know what it means, everything?
ALLEN: Baruch has lived with her husband, Murrow(ph), in Jacmel now for 30 years. She says she was sitting outside with friends when the earthquake hit.
Ms. BARUCH: And then suddenly we heard a noise coming from the (unintelligible). And then it start moving slowly and as the moving was stronger, then the noise was stronger until you could not hear anything but the noise. Ah, it was terrible.
ALLEN: The Baruchs live in Jacmels historic section near the waterfront -mostly two storey stone buildings with iron work and balconies reminiscent of New Orleans French quarter. Its now in ruins. Baruch says she doesnt know how shell pay for the repairs to her home. While we're talking Baruch, runs into a friend, Georgette Dujay(ph), who says she has decided to leave the country and move back to New York.
Ms. GEORGETTE DUJAY: Downtown is finished completely. So we need help to reconstruct everything, to rebuild Jacmel.
ALLEN: Residents believe their best hope lies in convincing architecture and historic preservation groups to come in and help rebuild and restore Jacmels treasures.
Unidentified Man: Watch your back.
ALLEN: Clean-up is already underway. Canadian troops arrived this week and immediately began using shovels to clear streets of rubble. Compared to Port-au-Prince, the devastation here is manageable. Except for the old section, individual buildings, not entire neighborhoods, were demolished in the earthquake. There were deaths here, but they're in the hundreds, not like Port-au-Prince, in the tens of thousands. Its a city where rebuilding seems possible and which is already starting to grow.
(Soundbite of vehicles)
ALLEN: At Jacmels bus station, vehicles arrive steadily from Port-au-Prince overloaded with passengers. Its a similar scene in provincial cities all over Haiti. Yolan Nelson(ph) says she is returning to her hometown because there really is no other choice.
Ms. YOLAN NELSON: (Through translator) Yeah. I think things are really dangerous in Port-au-Prince because people are dying. We are running for our lives because of the earthquake - because of the earthquake thats killing people in Port-au-Prince.
ALLEN: Where all the newcomers will live in Jacmel is another question. There are five encampments of people whose homes were destroyed or which were too dangerous to sleep in. On a visit to one camp, conditions seemed manageable and vastly better than the unsanitary and overcrowded camps in Port-au-Prince. While the numbers are smaller, fewer homes demolished, fewer dead and injured than in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel has its share of tragedy. Natasha Atien(ph) was part of a small crowd yesterday, examining a pile of rubble that used to be a school. I asked her how many students died.
Ms. NATASHA ATIEN: (Through translator) They lost their life. There are a lot(ph) - I really dont know because there are so many people who died inside.
ALLEN: Not far from the school, a crowd was gathered around the house where a search and rescue team was working. We stopped to see what was going on.
(Soundbite of baby crying)
ALLEN: Its an amazing scene here. We came across a rescue operation that pulled a baby out of a crushed house, seven days after the earthquake. The baby doesnt look like it could more than a month, two months old, and rescuers here are diapering it in the back of a pick-up truck.
How can one baby survive that long without water...
Mr. FRANCE LAMBERT(ph): Thats a miracle, man, a miracle.
ALLEN: France Lambert had it right. There seemed to be no other way to describe it. Its the kind of miracle Haiti will need a lot more of in the weeks and months ahead.
Greg Allen, NPR News, Jacmel.
INSKEEP: The ragged voice of NPRs Greg Allen, who's been on the ground for us since shortly after the earthquake. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
