The population of Chattanooga is a little more than 155,000.
Hamilton County, including Chattanooga, has a few more than 330,000 people.
Now, compare those figures with the reported death toll from Haiti’s earthquake — 270,000 men, women and children, so far!
Can we even imagine that many dead in a small area in and around Port-au-Prince? Many more people have suffered serious injuries, lost their homes and everything else. There is the possibility of widespread disease, with many thousands depending upon the massive rush of food and water to people who have survived but lost everything — including hope.
In addition to the human and material loss, it is almost impossible to imagine the personal and psychological damage that the Haitian people have suffered.
How can those people ever really recover, despite huge outpourings of aid and sympathy?