(CBS4) — Situated on the western part of Hispanola, the Republic of Haiti has suffered several devastating disasters, both natural and man made, the last several years.

In November 1994 Hurricane Gordon killed more than eleven hundred people and left thousands homeless from flooding damage.

In September 1998 Hurricane George killed more than 400 people while destroying 80 per cent of all the crops in the country.

In 1999, more than nine thousand people were killed by flooding caused by hurricanes, another five thousand were reported as missing.

In May 2004, heavy rains cause massive flooding on Haiti’s southern border with the Dominican Republic which killed more than three thousand people.

On September 17th, 2004, Tropical Storm Jean gave the island nation’s northern coast a glancing blow which left more than 36 hundred people dead – mostly from flooding and mudslides.

In 2008, Haiti was swept by a quartet devastating storms in late August and early September; Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike. Over the four week period, 793 people died and more than 300 others were reported missing. Government officials say about 60 per cent of the country’s harvest was destroyed.

In November 2008 the College Promesse Evangelique in Petionville collapsed killed 89 people and injuring 150 more. Four days later a second school, Grace Divine School in Canape Vert, collapsed injuring nine people. Haiti’s president René Preval blamed the collapses on recent heavy rains, poor construction and a lack of proper regulation.