Why is it taking so long?

By now everyone has heard of the tragic events in Haiti. Everyone sees the tragic shortfalls in food and medical supplies. And now people are starting to ask how come things aren't getting in there quicker.

But think about this for a second. When a disaster strikes, aid organizations typically work with the local government to organize aid distribution, using the infrastructure already in place. In Haiti, the devastation was so utterly complete, the government is in shambles, and the roads are completely choked with debris. The airport is only a single runway, and the road serving the port has been buckled and must be repaired before trucks can roll. Its like hiking the ball, just to see a safety blitz coming your way. You have to roll out, and make things up as you go along.

When you don't have any infrastructure in place to deliver aid through, you only have two options. 1) You dump massive amounts of aid into the country, willy nilly. 2) You take time to get things organized, and move in an orderly fashion to help things out.

If you do the first choice, things get to the people, sure, but its like filling a gallon jug from a fire hose. It gets the job done, but there's a lot of waste. If you go slower, there's less waste, but it takes more time. Now picture that you're in an area where the taps already didn't work that well, so the supplies of water are limited. Anything wasted is affecting many times more people. That is the problem aid agencies are facing. How do you balance getting aid to the people who need it quickly, while eliminating waste and ensuring the security of your people, and the Haitian people?

But the entire process is bogged down by the bottleneck at the only airport and the port, as everything backs up. It is a horrible situation, but unless you deal with the logistical side of things, and the security aspects, then things will only get worse.