The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster

41 hours after the earthquake, U.S. President Barack Obama announces $100 million in aid. Led by Lieutenant General P.K. Keen, the U.S. deploys aircraft, naval vessels, and drones in what Katz calls a coordinated "compassionate invasion" (68). Relief agencies flood the country. Global aid totals $2.21 billion with more donations pouring in over the following weeks. Katz explains the unique challenges of medical triage in such a devastated landscape, and the lack of reliable census data makes it impossible to keep an accurate count of the dead. Death toll estimates range from 85,000 to 316,000. Bodies overwhelm the nation's small morgues and are left in a parking lot, bloating in the hot sun. Some are hauled away and buried in mass graves. After three days, the smell is overpowering, driving some journalists out of the country. Préval, meanwhile, remains hidden, leaving press conferences to his communications minister.

Aid efforts focus on search-and-rescue operations with members of the news media hovering nearby, hungry for images of survivors. Most of the rescue efforts concentrate on commercial centers in the capital, like hotels and high-end grocery stores, while homes and schools are often ignored. There is a lack of coordination among the many different aid agencies, Katz explains, and when new relief arrives, it is directed toward the same familiar sites that attract most of the media coverage.