Haiti Quake Stirs Painful Memories in New York, New Orleans

(Jan. 19) – A week later, the damage from the massive earthquake that struck Haiti remains unimaginable for many. But for some who live in New York and New Orleans, the destruction is reminiscent of catastrophes in those cities.

In Port-au-Prince, a New York City rescue team has been sifting through the wreckage for survivors, much as some of them did at ground zero after the 9/11 attacks. One firefighter on the squad said the smell of death in the air reminded him of New York, The New York Times reports.

"And I can smell it right now. Sniff in the air. That's it. Once it's in your head it doesn't come out," he told the Times. Still, he said the damage in Port-au-Prince was so widespread that it left Haitians with no escape from the tragedy. "This is like 9/11 on the whole island of Manhattan. There's nothing left. How are they going to come back after this? This place needs to be leveled. None of this is saveable."

But when they get to work, it doesn't matter where the destruction is or whether it was created by man or Mother Nature. "When you have your head in the hole, you forget where you are," said another member of the 80-person team of firefighters, police and paramedics. "You could be anywhere, really. And that person you're looking for could be anywhere. It's real simple though. You want to get them out alive."

Last Wednesday, two New York City police officers told the New Yorker about the reaction of a retired New York Police Department officer now living in Haiti. "He said, 'Brother, it's like 9/11 all over again. Only it's different – it's Haiti.'"

Residents of New Orleans watch the scenes of devastation and despair from living rooms that four and a half years ago were flooded with waters unleashed by Hurricane Katrina. Pierre Confident, a native of Haiti, watched the television reports in his house, still in need of repair after Katrina. He told The Washington Post he felt lucky to live there.

"They wish they had a flooded home to live in," Confident said of his fellow Haitians.

Some in New Orleans are hopeful, saying the relief efforts in Haiti have far outdone those after Katrina. President Barack Obama pledged $100 million in aid from the United States shortly after the quake, and 10,000 American troops are expected to be there this week. Still, the catastrophes buck comparison. Katrina claimed 1,600 lives, 9/11 more than 2,700. The current death toll estimate for Haiti is 200,000.

"The initiation is there," Fenelle Guillaume, a Haitian who lived through Katrina, told The Washington Post. "They have started doing something compared to what happened here in Katrina."