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Aug 27
2012
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In 2010 following the earthquake devastation in Haiti, I became concerned about the use of tarps and similar temporary shelter materials because of the strong possibility of a hurricane later that same year. Haitians were spared the any serious hurricanes in 2010 and 2011, but in 2012, they were seriously impacted by Hurricane Isaac.
What I proposed in 2010 was to use ConEx containers for temporary shelter, feeling that they were in abundance and more durable than tarps. I shared my thoughts at DRJ in Orlando with Hector Fulgencio and Cole Emerson. Hector was familiar with ConEx containers from his work in the shipping industry. Cole has vast experience in disaster response. The consensus among us was that there was indeed a surplus of containers in the U.S. and the military could offload them and place them using heavy lift helicoptors. This would not necessitate using the ports in Haiti which had been seriously damaged. Since ConEx containers are transported via the sea, there would also be no need for the damaged and overcrowded airport.
