It’s been just over a year since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, and things are slowly improving. However, more than 1.2 million residents are still living in tent cities, and there is much work left to be done.
The New York Times has built a very impressive interactive map that allows you to view certain areas of the city from three different times: before the quake, just after the quake, and now.
One of the most amazing transformations is likely in the Petionville Tent City, which used to be an elite country club. It now holds roughly 60,000 Haitians and has become a nearly fully functional city with its own hospital, church and school. The before and after shots of the golf course are amazing:
Acronym Online has some good info about this New York Times feature, but your best bet is to go check it out for yourself on their site. Be advised that Flash is required to view the map.
Another great way to explore the imagery is simply to fly there in Google Earth and see if for yourself (KML to Petionville Tent City
). Google has added imagery for that area roughly a dozen times over the past year, and the historical imagery tool is very valuable there.
Because so much historical imagery has been added in such a short period of time, the date slider can get a little crowded. Be sure to use the [+] and [-] icons in the historical imagery slider so you can see the individual dates, as seen to the right.(via Webmaster Geoeye)
About Mickey Mellen
Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.
It will be interesting to see where Japan is 1 year from now.
We are heartened and encouraged by your report. However, we feel, in south Florida, that our neighbors have been forgotten. They will bounce back, though!