Haiti Earthquake

[GTAsoldier]

from CNN:

Here's some of the latest info:

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- International aid groups were feverishly trying to get supplies into quake-ravaged Haiti on Thursday to prevent the situation from going from "dire to absolutely catastrophic."

The search-and-rescue efforts are the top priority.

"The ability to get people out of that rubble is paramount," said Jonathan Aiken, a spokesman for the American Red Cross. "You have a very limited time to accomplish that before people die and before you start to get into issues of diseases."

Behind the scenes, a massive coordination effort involving dozens of aid groups, the Haitian government, the United Nations and the U.S. military was under way to get food, water, tents and other supplies to survivors of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

Ian Rodgers, a senior emergency adviser for Save the Children, said aid efforts were at a "tipping point."

"People are without water; children are without food and without shelter," he said. "What we will see with the lack of water is the possibility of diarrheal diseases and, of course, that can kill children in a matter of hours if not tended to appropriately.

"It is very possible," Rodgers said, "that the situation can go from dire to absolutely catastrophic if we don't get enough food, medicine and work with children and their families to help them."

In the United States, President Obama promised the people of Haiti that "you will not be forsaken."

"Today, you must know that help is arriving," Obama said.

Precise casualty estimates were impossible to determine. Haitian President Rene Preval said Wednesday that he had heard estimates of up to 50,000 dead but that it was too early to know for sure. The Haitian prime minister said he worries that several hundred thousand people were killed.

The country's infrastructure has been devastated, the scope of the calamity enormous. "The government personnel that would normally lead these types of responses, they themselves have been affected," Rodgers said.

The Haitian government stopped accepting flights Thursday because ramp space at the airport in the capital city, Port-au-Prince, was saturated and no fuel was available, said Federal Aviation Adminstration spokeswoman Laura Brown.

Meanwhile, the pier used for delivery of cargo to Port-au-Prince was "completely compromised" by Tuesday's earthquake, said CNN's Eric Marrapodi. Three ships filled with medical supplies, food, clothing and water were turned away, he said. Roads leading into the city from the dock were bucked about 5 feet high by the earthquake, he said.

Relief agencies are focusing on food, shelter, medical care and communications, all of which will help establish a sense of security, Aiken said. "The people will at least know that the world is paying attention to them."

Supplies and security

A bottleneck of supplies has built up while authorities have tried to get Haiti's main airport functioning. Rubble-strewn roads, downed trees and a battered communications network have hampered humanitarian efforts. Aftershocks continue to jolt the region, causing further fear and panic among residents.

"We're going to have to wait for this pipeline of aid coming in from various places around the world to be set up and put into full gear before Haitians can get all the help that they need," Aiken said. "You're going to start seeing some progress on that today."

While planes were able to bring in the first round of supplies, the question became, Aiken said, "how do you get it to the folks who need it?"

Impact Your World: How you can help

Haiti isn't accustomed to quakes and doesn't have the heavy equipment or specialized machinery to help clear the rubble, Aiken said. Aid groups and government agencies are coordinating to get the equipment in.

"It's basically a matter of clearing out the rubble, making sure that areas are workable, that you have security that can protect these supplies and that you have security in place to help people," Aiken said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said a contingent of 2,000 U.S. Marines will help the international peacekeeping and police force established after the 2004 ouster of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

"We'll try to support them as they re-establish authority," Clinton said.

The American Red Cross emptied a warehouse in Panama that had been filled with everything from cooking kits to toiletries to medical supplies and tents. That load of supplies is likely to make it into Haiti on Thursday, Aiken said. "Our effort is immediate relief and supplies."

"The needs are overwhelming at this point in time," Rodgers said. "We are going to be doing our best to respond to that, but obviously that's a big task at hand."

Medical emergency

Hospitals in Port-au-Prince have collapsed, and the few facilities still open can't handle the needs of the injured. The United States and other countries were dispatching medical supplies, facilities and personnel. People who suffered broken bones from falling debris have been unable to get treatment; there's simply too many of them.

"We need medical help," Haitian President Rene Preval said. "Some of the hospitals, they collapsed. The hospitals, they are full, and they put people in the outside."

Clinton said, "Just getting to people to provide the medical assistance they need is proving to be very difficult."

Barbara DeBuono, the former commissioner of health for New York state, said the coordination between the U.S. military and groups like the Red Cross is essential to treating the sick and injured. "Making sure that the right hand knows what the left hand is doing is really, really critical here, so that there isn't further chaos and confusion."

Aiken said officials would assess the situation on the ground and coordinate medical efforts.

As the days go by, health concerns will grow about diseases, like cholera and tuberculosis, from the thousands of corpses on streets and in the rubble. The bodies also can affect the water supply and sanitation.

"You can have airborne diseases," Aiken said. "You can have animals carrying [diseases] feeding off these corpses."

Haiti could also have a humanitarian crisis since tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed, forcing residents onto residents.

"There needs to be a place to put people and to set up a structure like a refugee camp," Aiken said. "That's all part of this."

But he said, for now, the priority is to rescue as many people as possible -- and get supplies in as quickly as possible.

The remainder of my mom's family is down there (except one of her sisters/my aunt and her aunt. she's Haitian. That makes me part-Haitian as well.) This is heartbreaking news. But thank God that my cousin called today and said the fam is okay. I already sent $10 to the Red Cross for Haiti. Discuss.

Edited January 15, 2010 by GTAsoldier

[NickS]

This Tradegy sounds pretty bad for everyone! It's on all of the news channels, radios, newspapers, even in the games I play on Facebook! I wish I could help but I don't know how to in my place, no one seems to give a damn, I don't think anyone has heard of it yet!

[Husky]

Thats because many people know where Haiti is. My classmates thought it was in Africa or somewhere.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Husky

[Chris]

Here are some amazing pictures six days on, from The Boston Globe. When I say amazing, I don't mean in a good way, some of them a pretty horrific, others just heartbreaking. But you won't see this shit on news channels or big corporate websites.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/haiti_six_days_later.html

[Husky]

That was the most fucked up shit I've ever seen. The school would love to put money in for charity for this website.

[_Ray]

Has anybody heard that Hugo Chavez is actually BLAMING the US for this disaster, saying that it was their practice for Iran?

This has to be near THE MOST ridiculous thing I've ever heard; I can't even express my amusement with emoticons.

I saw it on the news, but here's an internet source.

[Ivan]

That's because americans are donkeys.

Nah but seriously, you can't actually take him serious, despite him being the president and all.

[MrLlamaLlama]

This has to be near THE MOST ridiculous thing I've ever heard: ''I can't even express my amusement with emoticons.''

fixed.

Also yeah that's pretty funny. Not sure if he was actually convinced of them having such a weapon he'd have the nads to stand up and call them on it.

On the subject on the Earthquake itself, news coverage is starting to piss me off a bit. I tend to eat at a time that coincides with the news, and don't appreciate seeing people die in the street while i'm trying to eat. That might sound a bit western, greedy and faux - moral, but i can't help but think broadcasters would issue warnings 'this broadcast contains scenes of humans rotting in the street and may make you think twice about diving into that spaghetti bolognese' etc. Or just put them offpeak, or something.

Also, however many weeks ago it was, 'OMG COPENHAGEN MUZT NOT YOOS ENERGY OR GET ON PLANES' - and there goes ITV sending out 3 reporters, seemingly at 3 different times of the week. Why? surely that uses valuable earth resources? Send 1 guy and a small film crew out and be done with it.

Rant over...for now.

[Husky]

Why would America invade Haiti anyway?

[MrLlamaLlama]

Not sure it's a matter of invasion, but militarization. Securing the place for military use / storage / training / research and generally having a bigger area of troop coverage. More places to dispatch forces from and so on.

[_Ray]

More than half of Haiti's Economy is based on foreign aid; mainly from the US.

[Thomas.]

I feel sorry for the people in Haiti, they were living in a bad situation before as one of the poorest countries (per capita) in the Americas, dwarfed by neighbouring countries of the Dominican Rep. and the USA. Now the situation is even worse. The country is basically leaderless, with the USA basically taking over (hence the thousands of troops and many American helicopters, boats and land vehicles).

Anyway, I've so far donated £1.40 towards it, which isn't that bad considering that most of my school donated the same amount - 1000 x £1 and so on.

More than half of Haiti's Economy is based on foreign aid; mainly from the US.

Isn't that the case for most countries receiving aid? That's where tax-payer's money is going, not for your country but for other countries.

[Ivan]

I feel sorry for the people in Haiti, they were living in a bad situation before as one of the poorest countries (per capita) in the Americas, dwarfed by neighbouring countries of the Dominican Rep. and the USA. Now the situation is even worse. The country is basically leaderless, with the USA basically taking over (hence the thousands of troops and many American helicopters, boats and land vehicles).

Anyway, I've so far donated £1.40 towards it, which isn't that bad considering that most of my school donated the same amount - 1000 x £1 and so on.

Isn't that the case for most countries receiving aid? That's where tax-payer's money is going, not for your country but for other countries.

That's pretty cool, there's been very little effort do help around here, schools aren't really doing anything.

[Blur]

I also donated ten dollars; my high school raised a total of $2,600 in one day to donate to the Red Cross which

is really great considering there are a total of around 1,500 students in my school, everyone donated. I was

listing to the radio today and I heard that Hati's goverment has called of the search to find missing surviors

after they pulled a man out of the ruble.

Also I rep'ed your post Chris for linking those simply remarkable pictures. I think everyone should look at them if you haven't already.

[Gycu]

I apologize for bringing the religious topic in this but the cynism of some people never ceases to amaze me, I would like to slap someone asap.

I read on a site that because most of the population in Haiti are practicing Voodoo ( considered a pagan religion by Christians ) God punished them and many quotes from the Bible were listed about Christ and praying for forgiveness of our sins otherwise we'll all end up like the Haitians.

A moron with this type of mentality, and I could name a few if not many, would probably say

"I'm a Christian, I believe in Heaven/Hell, I will never judge people and help both my friend and my enemy when needed. What? The quake in Haiti? Well fuck em, they are spirit worshipping poor people and they fully deserved it for not believing in our God, I believe in Him therefore I am saved and will end up in Heaven anyway."

After a facepalm I would sarcasticly reply: "Ok, you are so right, a real winner you are. It's best to judge and generalise instead of helping persons without prejudice about their faith and vision upon the world, continue with this mentality please."

What more can I say?

[Ivan]

I didn't know Voodoo was an actual religion, just thought it was a ritual.

And lol at those guys, religious people can be so annoying.

[Gycu]

I didn't know Voodoo was an actual religion, just thought it was a ritual.

And lol at those guys, religious people can be so annoying.

I am not really sure but I beieve it could be considered a religion, I know about the rituals and faith in some sorth of spirits related to Voodoo, rituals + faith makes a religion right? Of course I could be very wrong acutally, in that case I'm very sorry .

I'm not really pissing on people's religion or anything but the "fanatics" are the ones that really make me feel pity for them.

[Ivan]

There was a football match here in Portugal in Benfica's Stadium.

Man...it was fucking lovely. All those legends from Benfica playing against guys like Zidane and Figo, the audience was great, everything was awesome and a good sum of money was collected to support Haiti.

[MrLlamaLlama]

Plate Tectonics - Solid scientific foundation

God - may or may not exist

Also, 'freedom of choice'.