And know that it will take years to rebuild. 5 years later, there is still destruction, and reconstruction going on in New Orleans, and there are buildings where nothing has been done after the flood. The advantage here was that some parts of the metro area didn't flood, buildlings may have flooded but they were still standing (meaning multi-story buildings had functional upper floors), and help could arrive by driving in. In Haiti, most if not all assistance has to come by air or sea, and the major structures are destroyed or left unsafe.

Haiti is deja vu all over again, but worse. Probably more like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which none of us are old enough to remember.