Haiti death toll?

[megasan]

what is the death toll now in haiti everyone is saying different things like a few thousand died others are saying up to 500,000 thousand is their any estimate that is 100% accurate?

also just in case noone knows atleast 80% of haiti is catholic and the rest are mostly christian. so please pray for them

 

[dixieagle]

The estimates have been all over the place; first, between 100,000 and 500,000, and the latest I heard was closer to 50,000. I think they simply don’t know yet.

Lots of prayers being said.

 

[Adira]

Pray for the people in Haiti and also for those who are going to help them.

I’ve read a few articles that have stated getting relief supplies to those in need will be very difficult because of the state of country’s infrastructure due to quake. One report I read stated that many roads were clogged with debris, dead bodies, and homeless people.

 

[JReducation]

The actual number is unknown. The Papal Nuncio placed a telephone call to the Vatican. He said that he estimates at least 500,000. But that is based on the number of deceased in one city block multiplied by X. There are are many others who are doing the calculations using the same formula. We must understand that these are estimates. We won’t know the number for years. Beside the people killed by the collapsing buildings, there are many who were found alive, but have not made it and there are many who will die from infections that will result from this.

We must keep them in prayer and donate to Catholic Relief Services, Salvation Army, or Goodwill. These organizations have the lowest overhead costs, which means that a greater percent of the dollar reaches those in need.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Secret_Square]

Given the magnitude of the destruction, and the fact that many of the people who live in Haiti didn’t have homes, stable addresses, jobs, telephones, or other devices to track their comings and goings even before the quake, it will probably be impossible to get an accurate death toll any time soon.

It took months to get an accurate death toll after Hurricane Katrina and even today the true death toll is still in dispute. Officially there were about 1,800 confirmed dead and about 700 missing or unaccounted for after Katrina. However, this blog article claims there may have been more than 4,000 deaths attributable to Katrina if you include “indirect” deaths that happened in the aftermath of the storm:

robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/final-katrina-death-toll-at-4081/

Needless to say, if the situation in New Orleans after Katrina was bad enough to cause thousands of additional deaths, the situation in Haiti is probably many times worse. Thousands upon thousands of dead people killed in the quake will probably never be accounted for (in fact I believe they are already burying people in mass graves) and thousands more will probably die from disease or hunger even with the massive amounts of aid pouring in. No one will know for sure how many have died for weeks or months, if ever, but one thing we do know for sure is they need LOTS of help and prayers!