150,000 still displaced on Haiti earthquake’s fourth year anniversary

Four years ago Sunday, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, destroying its capital of Port-au-Prince and killing more than 200,000 people.
Today, much of Port-au-Prince looks like it did before the quake. Most of the tent camps in the city itself are gone, and streets are loaded with overcrowded buses and women selling vegetables.

Most of those whose lives were upended by the quake are back in some kind of home. Most of the rubble has been cleared from the streets. The severely damaged presidential palace has finally been razed. And the government is rebuilding its ministries downtown.
But for nearly 150,000 people, life hasn’t moved on. They still live in the temporary plastic and plywood structures erected after the disaster.

What Keeps Them There

“It’s the worst place to be in Haiti,” says Gregoire Goodstein, mission chief for the International Organization for Migration. “We’re talking about the higher-hanging fruit; people who are unable to get out of the tent camp system because they really don’t have any other solutions for themselves.”