The toll is heavy: people are missing following the passage of Hurricane Melissa over Haiti. Early estimates report more than thirty deaths and several people missing. It is too soon to assess the material damage, but it is certain that the cost will be steep for a country already suffering from everything. Still, considering the intensity with which the storm struck Jamaica, one could say that Haiti narrowly escaped the worst.

The victims of Melissa will not be able to rest in peace. The cyclone had given authorities—both national and local—enough time to shelter the most vulnerable. But our poverty, our disorganization, and our institutional disorder have defeated all common sense. In Petit-Goâve and elsewhere, communities are paying the price for national negligence.