If you laid all tarpaulins that have been distributed by Shelter Cluster agencies end on end, they'd reach from Sydney to Perth, London to Baghdad, Lisbon to Moscow or New Delhi to Beijing.
The earthquake created approximately 20 million cubic meters (26 million cubic yards) of debris that have to be removed. To put this into perspective: after the Pakistan earthquake in 2005, that number was 2.3 million cubic meters (3 million cubic yards).
If you put all the debris in shipping containers and put them end on end, they would reach from London to Jerusalem, Melbourne to Perth or New York to Las Vegas. The majority of Haitians are removing debris from their plots by hand.
Over 18 months, Shelter Cluster agencies are planning to build approximately 125,000 transitional shelters. These will provide safe places to live for approximately 625,000 people. This is slightly more than the number of people living in the cities of Las Vegas, Gold Coast or Glasgow.
Shelter Cluster agencies are planning to build enough transitional shelters for 55,000 people per month. This equals the population of Hereford, UK; Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia; Limerick, Ireland; or Cheyenne, WY, USA.
