Double disasters strike Haiti

Pummeled

A 7.2 magnitude quake demolished towns in southwestern Haiti on Aug. 14. Ten days later, the official death toll climbed just past 2,200, though it was likely to continue rising since 344 people were still missing. The injured flooded into hospitals in and around the city of Les Cayes as the fragile Haitian government rushed to assess the damage and send aid. People in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, about 125 miles east, felt the shaking and rushed outside in fear, but the city did not appear to sustain significant damage. Days later, a tropical depression swept through, complicating relief efforts further. “Unfortunately, when disasters stack on top of each other, it slows the delivery of relief supplies,” said Ryan Grabill of U.S.-based Convoy of Hope. “There are few countries in the world that an earthquake happening would be worse than Haiti.”

Flooded

At least 22 people died after record rainfall brought down cell phone towers and took out roads in rural areas an hour west of Nashville on Aug. 21. Humphreys County received more than 17 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, topping Tennessee’s one-day record by more than 3 inches. Victims included 7-month-old twins swept from their father’s arms. People who live in Waverly, Tenn., described a wall of water rushing into their town from higher ground. GoFundMe pages asked for help for funeral expenses for the dead. The water left a landscape of collapsed houses, tangled debris, and flipped vehicles strewn about town.

Unpicked

A little over a week after landing the job as host of Jeopardy!, Mike Richards resigned on Aug. 20 as Alex Trebek’s replacement on the popular game show. The Ringer published offensive comments Richards made while hosting a podcast from 2013 to 2014, including calling his female co-host a derogatory term, saying that women in one-piece swimsuits looked “really frumpy and overweight,” and referencing stereotypes about Jews. Richards said he didn’t want his comments to distract Jeopardy! fans from the show. After Trebek died in November, the show auditioned potential replacements. Richards will remain in his role as executive producer, and the show will feature another round of guest hosts.

Saved

An Oklahoma woman worked a personal connection with a diplomat in Qatar to evacuate 10 Afghan schoolgirls as the Taliban took control of the country. Allyson Reneau met the girls at a robotics and engineering event in Washington, D.C., in 2019. As the Taliban swept across Afghanistan, Reneau contacted her friend in Qatar, who worked all night to process paperwork. Officials got 10 girls, ages 16 to 18, on a plane. Reneau, a Harvard graduate with a degree in international relations, helped coordinate the girls’ travel to the United States where they will study. “It was a very narrow window of opportunity,” Reneau told NBC News.

—WORLD has corrected the item about 10 Afghan schoolgirls to reflect that Allyson Reneau worked from the United States to help coordinate the girls’ evacuation.