17 January 2010

Haiti Relief Efforts Widen Amid Devastation

A Haitian woman receives a bag of donated rice from USAID January 16 in Port-au-Prince.

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — International relief efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti continue to widen and are focusing on two main priorities: search and rescue of trapped victims and providing relief supplies to survivors, says Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

U.S. relief efforts are focused on working in tandem with the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the international community and the Haitian government, Shah said during a brief visit to Haiti January 16 with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton met with Haitian President René Préval in Port-au-Prince to assure Haitians that the United States is working with the government in every way possible.

“We are here at the invitation of your government to help you,” Clinton said in her meeting with Préval. “As President Obama has said, we will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead.”

Clinton arrived in Port-au-Prince on a U.S. Coast Guard cargo plane from Puerto Rico along with Shah and a load of much-needed relief supplies — 100 cases of water, 100 cases of meals-ready-to-eat, and food and toiletries for about 140 U.S. embassy staff.

The Caribbean island nation was hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake late in the afternoon on January 12, and according to Red Cross officials, that has impacted about 3.5 million people, or a third of the impoverished nation’s population.

“Our first priority was to go in with urban search-and-rescue teams. They work around the clock to try and save lives,” Shah told news reporters. “Our next priority, which started in parallel, was getting those commodities down there and making sure we have the food, water, shelter and basic needs met for the people of Haiti.”

The critical link in bringing in relief supplies in massive quantities was a working airport that could handle huge, jet-powered cargo aircraft. On January 15, the Haitian government formally transferred temporary control of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince to the United States, and it is being operated by U.S. Air Force air traffic control teams. The Air Force says the airport is open for 24-hour operations and has a 90-aircraft-per-day capability that is supporting all air traffic contributing to the international relief effort.

“Obviously we will assume this responsibility as long as it’s appropriate and to the point where the Haitian government is able and ready to resume that capability,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said at a news briefing January 15.

The lone 9,000-foot (2.7-kilometer) runway was undamaged in the earthquake and can handle the largest jet airplanes with heavy cargo loads, but the air terminal and control tower were badly damaged in the earthquake and are not at the moment operational. The Air Force control teams are working from space along the runway and flight ramps in the open. They have been assisted by a special resource team from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which is working closely with Haitian authorities in restoring navigation and communications capabilities.

After a brief period when some flights into Port-au-Prince were restricted mostly because of the lack of aviation fuel at the airport, operations were restored late January 15. Haitian air space is now run in a two-tier system by mutual agreement with international aviation authorities and Caribbean states. The first priority is given to flights carrying what is most needed immediately, and the second tier of flights is being arranged by a U.S. military facility in south Florida, which lessens the burden for the Air Force ground control teams.

 

A young Haitian earthquake victim is transferred from a U.S. helicopter during a medical-evacuation mission in Port-au-Prince.

A young Haitian earthquake victim is transferred from a U.S. helicopter during a medical-evacuation mission in Port-au-Prince.

The port in Port-au-Prince was so badly damaged by the earthquake that bringing relief cargo in by ships is not possible until a working pier is established and roads into and out of the port area are cleared. A Navy container ship with roll-on/roll-off capability for offloading cargo without a port is set to arrive within days; it departs Jacksonville, Florida, on January 18, according to USAID.

RELIEF EFFORTS

As of January 16 U.S. urban search-and-rescue teams working with other international rescue teams had rescued 22 people trapped in collapsed buildings, according to USAID Disaster Assistance Response Teams. The United States has seven search-and-rescue teams in Haiti with 506 personnel, and the total number of international and U.S. search-and-rescue teams is 27 with 1,500 workers and 115 rescue dogs. By January 15 the U.S. teams had searched about 60 percent of the most-affected areas in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, according to USAID.

Approximately 27 nations and the United Nations have reported citizens missing or dead in Haiti.

U.S. Army Lieutenant General Ken Keen, the deputy commander of the U.S. Southern Command who was in Port-au-Prince at the time of the earthquake and is the onsite coordinator of the relief efforts, told reporters the humanitarian crisis is a “disaster of epic proportions with tremendous logistical challenges.” A U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination team reported that the earthquake has killed approximately 50,000 people, but the death toll and impact figures remain unconfirmed.

One of the factors making it difficult to account for the number of dead and injured is the complete breakdown of infrastructure in Port-au-Prince. Many of the dead are being buried in mass graves and the sheer volume exceeds local capability, according to USAID. The Haitian government estimates that it has buried approximately 13,000 bodies in two days.

Keen said the United States has approximately 5,000 military personnel currently supporting the task force in Haiti and from U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships offshore. An additional 7,500 military personnel are scheduled to arrive by January 18.

“To alleviate the immediate need for water, U.S. military assets are giving the highest priority to the shipment of donated water to Haiti,” the Pentagon said January 16. Two water-purification units are now in Haiti making hundreds of thousands of liters of water daily, and four additional water-purification units are scheduled to arrive by January 18 aboard the USS Bataan. The Pentagon estimates that the port will likely remain inoperable for 60 to 90 days. A port fuel facility is damaged and cannot deliver fuel, but it holds an estimated two-day supply.

The U.N. Logistics Cluster has recommended using the port in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as the primary entry point for humanitarian relief headed to Haiti.

Keen said 30 military helicopters are flying around-the-clock relief missions. “We do need, obviously, a safe and secure environment to continue and do the best we can with the humanitarian assistance,” Keen said on television news shows January 17.

The International Committee of the Red Cross reports that Port-au-Prince residents made homeless have begun living in about 40 informal temporary camps throughout the city. And the Haitian government has identified 14 formal camps for those people displaced by the earthquake, according to the United Nations. USAID, working with the Haitian government, has chosen the 14 centers for the distribution of food and water supplies.

USAID’s Shah said the United States has moved about $48 million of food to Haiti and distributed 600,000 humanitarian packaged meals.

Help save lives in Haiti: Visit the White House Web site for options. The International Committee of the Red Cross provides a service to help people find loved ones and the State Department has a Person Finder where people can post information about persons missing in Haiti.