I checked the OpenStreetMap data for Haiti in general and Port-au-Prince in particular soon after I heard about the terrible earthquake of 12th Jan 2010. There was pretty much nothing there. This was not surprising considering the grinding poverty which is the reality of every day life for so many Haitians. Commercial maps also have little coverage of the country.

Today I found out something which made me proud to be an OSM contributor - since the disaster, various sources have published aerial imagery and OSMers have been busy converting this into the most detailed and useful map of the country which I can find on the web.

In just 48 hours the OSM map of Port-au-Prince has gone from almost nothing to the clearest, most detailed map of the city I can find. I am certain that this map help the coordination of the relief efforts and save many lives. Go OSM!

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