A quick summary of where things stand, and what our nation is doing to help. This is an America of which we can be proud.
Update [2010-1-16 20:17:14 by Turkana]: First, though, Jimdotz has the latest in the series started by Dallasdoc, on how we can help. Rec it up!
Helping the Victims of the Haiti Earthquake
(h/t swampus)
And now to the news...
Reuters:
President Barack Obama on Saturday declared one of the largest relief efforts in U.S. history to help Haiti's earthquake victims as survivors begged for aid still only trickling through to them and looters fought in the streets.
Four days after a massive quake killed up to 200,000 people and wrecked most of the capital Port-au-Prince, hundreds of thousands of Haitians were still desperately waiting for assistance as scavengers and looters preyed on shattered buildings in the widespread absence of authority and order.
Even as aid poured into Port-au-Prince airport on Saturday, thousands of Haitians streamed out on foot with suitcases on their heads or jammed in cars to find food, water and shelter in the countryside and flee aftershocks as well as violence.
Haiti's president spoke bluntly. Also from Reuters:
Haiti's shell-shocked president, Rene Preval, thanked the world on Friday for its rush to aid his poor Caribbean nation after the catastrophic earthquake that he compared to a wartime bombardment.
"The damage I have seen here can be compared to the damage you would see if the country was bombed for 15 days. It is like in a war," the 66-year-old leader told Reuters in an interview outside the police station that has become his home and office in the wrecked capital Port-au-Prince.
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated much of the hilly coastal city on Tuesday also collapsed the elegant presidential palace and his own home.
Not surprisingly, given the devastation and desperation, conditions are growing worse.
Reuters again:
Looting turned violent in earthquake-shattered Port-au-Prince on Saturday, when a mob of around 1,000 people fought for goods in a central commercial street, a Reuters witness said.
Men with stones, knives, ice-picks and hammers battled to grab T-shirts, bags, toys and any other items they could find in destroyed houses and shops, Reuters photographer Carlos Barria said. Police present earlier were nowhere to be seen.
"It's anarchy there now, total chaos, the police have gone away," Barria said. "They are fighting, hitting each other, throwing stones at each other."
But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on the ground, overseeing U.S. relief efforts. Reuters:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assured Haiti's quake-ravaged people on Saturday the United States would work with their government to ensure the country emerges "stronger and better" after this week's disaster
"We will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead," Clinton told a news conference at Port-au-Prince airport, saying she wanted to speak directly to the Haitian people after a meeting with their President Rene Preval.
U.S. aid is pouring in. The Los Angeles Times:
Relief workers labored today to get more of the world's help into the devastated neighborhoods of Haiti's earthquake-damaged capital, where desperate residents faced a fifth day with scant food, water and medical care for the throngs of injured.
Aid shipments, U.S. troops and rescue workers continued to pour into Port-au-Prince's clogged airport, but the challenge remained getting help to the victims in the face of rubble-locked streets, smashed infrastructure and the breathtaking scale of destruction and need.
Signs of a big U.S. push were increasingly evident. Americans were now running the Port-au-Prince airport and U.S. helicopters ferried emergency supplies from an American aircraft carrier off the coast.
The Associated Press:
"This is personal," Biden said, touching the arm of White House political director Patrick Gaspard. The vice president said Gaspard, who is Haitian-American, had lost relatives in the earthquake. Biden did not say who those relatives were.
U.S. officials said more food and water was on the way. There should be 600,000 humanitarian daily rations - basic nutrition packages that provide 2,300 calories - at Haiti's airport by Saturday evening, according to Tim Callaghan, the administration aide helping oversee relief efforts.
Callaghan, who spoke to reporters on a conference call from Haiti, said water purification units arrived Friday night and that officials hope they will produce up to 300,000 liters of water. More water is coming from neighboring Dominican Republic.
National Security Council aide Denis McDonough said on the same telephone call that 180 tons of relief supplies had arrived in Haiti, but he didn't have a good breakdown on how much had been distributed and where.
NPR says there will be up to 10,000 U.S. troops on the ground, by Monday. Some may lack human consciences, but the Obama Administration and the U.S. military deserve thanks and praise. And we can continue to do our part. In the face of unimaginable horror, the human family reveals itself as a family.