ON MY desk is a copy of last Thursday’s Cyprus Mail, and on the front cover is a photograph of a survivor being pulled from the rubble in Port au Prince, two weeks after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti.
It is likely this miraculous rescue will be the last, and as rescue efforts wind down, so too will media coverage. Before long, most of us will forget.
For one man, who has since returned to his family in Cyprus, the experience of the earthquake will never leave.
Loucas Cibor, 33, a political councillor with the EU Delegation arrived in Haiti on December 31 to begin his new posting.
“I had been there exactly 12 days when the earthquake happened, at around 4.45pm on January 12,” he said.
“I was in a suburb of Port au Prince called Petion, travelling in a car at the time. At first I didn’t notice anything because the suspension dampened the shocks, but my friend felt that there was something wrong and so he pulled over.”
The first quake lasted 40 seconds and measured seven on the Richter scale. “It felt like there were people either side of the car shaking it. I was next to a building when it collapsed, a three storey building. At first the building tilted and collapsed in on itself.”
He explained that the worst affected buildings were those built using cheaper materials, and typically around three or four storeys high. “Often builders use cheap materials and the thinnest possible bracing to cut costs. In a country like Haiti it is not surprising because everyone tries to cut costs. Every investment is so uncertain.”
Immediately power lines collapsed and communication masts toppled, rendering phones useless or with sporadic service.
“All the main roads were blocked, either by debris or crushed cars, so we walked home.”
In the 45 minutes that it took to reach their hotel, the scale of damage became horrifyingly clear. “It was about three hours after the event, after we had seen fallen buildings, dead bodies and overturned cars, that we knew this was a major event. None of the locals had seen anything like it in their life time; it was unusually devastating,” he said.
Worse was to come when he finally reached his hotel.
“It had completely collapsed,” he said. Twenty to 30 people were outside on the lawn.”
Cibor had lost all his immediate possessions, and with only the clothes he wore, a phone and around $140 he went in search of colleagues at the UN Headquarters.
“That was when I learned that the main UN Headquarters in Port au Prince in Haiti had collapsed. Like my hotel it was a five storey building. Half had been damaged and the other half collapsed.”
Around 150 people had been killed there, including the Head of Mission, Deputy Head and one of Cibor’s EU delegation.
By chance Cibor met his boss there, who offered a place to stay that night. Though still intact, his house was unsafe to enter, as it may have been weakened by the quakes. That night they camped on the lawn, and scanned the satellite news channels to try and learn more. Despite being in the thick of it, their main source of information about news elsewhere in Port au Prince was CNN. At 1pm, phone service returned briefly, and Cibor managed to call his worried parents in Cyprus.
“We didn’t sleep well that night. All around us people were in distress. Some were crying or moaning, others thanking Jesus for saving their lives and many people had gathered in groups to sing Creole and French religious songs to keep up their spirits,” he said.
Evacuation to the neighbouring Dominican Republic by car began the next day. It was evening before the first rescue teams arrived. In the meantime, there was little to do but wait for their turn to be evacuated.
“There was a general perception that it was unsafe to go out, because if you went missing they would never find you. Some people were heading out and doing ‘disaster tourism’,”
He remained at the hotel site, helping rescue efforts.
Three days after the earthquake, he was reunited with a colleague who had a room in the collapsed hotel and had been missing. Together they were airlifted, first on a charter to the Dominican Republic, then by the Spanish Air Force to Madrid. From there he flew to Brussels and home to his family in Cyprus.
Had he found it hard to cope with what he saw? “I take a fairly sober approach to it. You have to decide how you will deal with it.
“Generally speaking I work in these environments because I enjoy them, and while major experiences don’t happen every day, disasters in these types of country are inevitable. But of all the possible scenarios, I never expected this to happen.”
Cibor explains there is a silver lining. “Haiti is now on the world aid map. The EU has pledged €450 million and whereas before the time frame for development was perhaps 20-30 years, with right investment we can make significant change in five to ten. The hope is that this will be a catalyst for serious long term vision of how Haiti can develop. As Bill Clinton said, this is an opportunity for Haiti to re-imagine itself.”
Will he go back? “I hope so.”
