The scope of the devastation that hit Haiti on Tuesday in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake started becoming more clear yesterday with the dawning of a new day.

A true picture of the damage did not filter to the world initially, as the quake occurred late in the evening. However, its strength had prepared many of us for the worst, even as the night gave cover to the destruction.

Yesterday, we awoke to word from the International Federation of the Red Cross that up to three million of Haiti’s nine million people may have been affected by the earthquake.

Images of the destruction coming out of Haiti are indeed heart-wrenching. Many buildings have been reduced to ruin and we shudder at the agony, fear and trauma Haitians trapped under rubble felt Tuesday night and yesterday as that country’s inability to respond to a disaster of this scale became obvious.

One report yesterday quoted Oxfam employee Ms Kristie van de Wetering as saying, “We can hear people calling for help from every corner. The aftershocks are ongoing and making people very nervous”.

Another report told us that the Haitian prime minister has estimated that fatalities from the tragedy will amount to hundreds of thousands. We fear that his assessment is correct.

Unfortunately, Haiti has, for many years, been plagued by immense challenges of nature. Just two years ago, the country was severely battered by four tropical storms, and in previous years the French-speaking nation has suffered greatly during the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Add to that intermittent social and political instability in the island and you get a picture of a land in turmoil.

We are therefore heartened by the response of the international community, especially Jamaica, which has rushed to Haiti’s assistance in its hour of need. The usual relief items — water, food, medicine, clothing and temporary shelter — will help to return some semblance of sanity to the lives of the Haitian people.

The selflessness displayed by the countries that have rallied to Haiti’s assistance thus far is even more admirable and encouraging, given the global recession that has devastated the economies of many of these countries.

It would be good, as well, if after the relief effort the international community gives some more focus to Haiti’s struggle to restore acceptance of its institutions. For surely, that is integral to the further economic, political and social development that Haiti needs to improve the lives of if its people.