General Chat

I am surprised there is no mention of the dreadful earthquakes that happened in Haiti - so many people who were already struggling to cope with dreadful poverty and hardship are now trying to recover their loved ones from under collapsed schools and buildings with little or no help, till it can arrive with them. I can't imagine how devastated they must feel, any small progress any of them have made in the past could be wiped out now together with the people who made their lives worth living.

Lizx

"All of a sudden everything was just falling apart ... there was no place to hide"

A massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti.



We make a fuss over snowstorms that stop our normal lives, these people struggle with adversity every day of their lives not just a few weeks in winter, and will struggle even more now to rebuild what they can.

Lizx
The extent of the devastation is still unclear but there are fears thousands of people may have died.

Haiti's worst quake in two centuries hit south of the capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, wrecking the presidential palace, UN HQ and other buildings.

A "large number" of UN personnel were reported missing by the organisation. Many people have spent the night outside amid fears of more aftershocks.

The Red Cross says up to three million people have been affected.

Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti's envoy to the US said the cost of the damage could run into billions.

A number of nations, including the US, UK and Venezuela, are gearing up to send aid.


The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude.

The tremor hit at 1653 (2153 GMT) on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. Phone lines to the country failed shortly afterwards.

There is still no official word on casualties and the extent of the devastation is only now becoming clearer with dawn breaking.

China has already indicated in reports in state media that eight of its peacekeepers are buried and feared dead, with another 10 unaccounted for.


I think hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement

Rachmani Domersant, operations manager, Food for the Poor


Worst of places for a quake
Haiti: LIVE NEWS
The AFP news agency quoted the Jordanian army as saying three of its peacekeepers had been killed and 21 wounded.

The Brazilian army said four of its peacekeepers were killed and a large number were missing.

A French official told AFP about 200 people were missing in the collapsed Hotel Montana, which is popular with tourists.

There have also been some reports of looting overnight.

Rachmani Domersant, an operations manager with the Food for the Poor charity, told Reuters that overnight the capital was in total darkness.

"You have thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming.

"People are trying to dig victims out with flashlights. I think hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement."

Earlier, bodies white with dust could be seen piled on the back of a pick-up truck as vehicles tried to ferry the injured to hospital.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has suffered a number of recent disasters, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.

What terrible news. It certainly puts our bit of bad weather in perspective.

I hope that the UK rescue team, with their expertise and specialist equipment, get there soon.
The country will need help from outside agencies too. I haven't seen the evening news, but suppose that there must have been more coverage.
It is too early to get a lot of accurate information, but I hope that help gets there soon and no more lives are lost.

It is so beyond our comprehension that we do not know what to say. It,s not for lack of sympathy, but lack of ability to help.

There is already an Oxfam group on the island, they were talking to someone from Oxfam England who had already spoken to their people in Haiti and obviously arranging for aid to go out, as you say, hope the blankets etc etc get there soon as well as the teams of searchers and such from all over the world. Barack Obama had said aid would be on its way asap but the first 48 hrs are the most important so aid must be there soon to try and save anyone trapped under rubble. There's probably not a lot of machinery there to do what's necessary with removing rubble safely and many people will die trapped under it all. Communication is poor there too makes it harder to know what happened.
I keep thinking of how awful it must be, to be going about your day or evening in this case nearly sunset which hampered rescue attempts and such, and to be catapulted into nothingness or injured under heavy stone.
They spoke with a woman from an orphanage who said that despite the fact it was night time and cold they had to get all the babies outside in case anything (else) collapsed and one of their workers called them to ask for help as she was trapped and there was nothing they could do to help her.
It breaks my heart.


Lizx

Hello Liz...Vic told me of the earthquake this morning, at that time very little was known. The next we heard was on the 6pm news.
Unbelievable, devestating news that a possible 100,000 plus are dead plus the injured and homeless. We were watching it on the news and were just numbed.
As Jean says, the lack of ability to help is awful, l so wish l could take some of the little ones in until things have settled for them, but will it ever be settled in Haiti.

jude x

Dear All

Hello

Yes it is a very bad earthquake.

Now it looks like help is on its way to those in need.

The loss of life is absolutely shocking.

Sending positive and caring thoughts to the people and the whole area affected.

Very sincere wishes
xx

It isn't just local people affected, so many UN envoy officials are missing because their building collapsed:


In a statement issued in New York, the UN said that its local HQ in Haiti had "sustained serious damage along with other UN installations" and "a large number" of personnel were missing.


EYEWITNESS
Carel Pedre, TV and radio presenter, Port-au-Prince
I saw a lot of people crying for help, a lot of buildings collapsed, a lot of car damage, a lot of people without help, people bleeding.
I saw a movie theatre, a supermarket, a cybercafe, an apartment building which collapsed.

Now it's dark outside, there is no electricity, all the phone networks are down, so there's no way that people can get in touch with their family and friends.

There are aftershocks every 15 to 20 minutes. They last from three to five seconds. The first shock was really strong, people were falling in the streets and buildings collapsed.

I didn't see any emergency services, the people at the neighbourhood were trying to help each other.

The streets are narrow and there is lot of traffic and everyone is trying to reach family and friends. Traffic now is really difficult. People don't know where to go or where to start.


UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said it was unclear how many people were in the building.

The head of the UN mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, was reported to have been inside and is unaccounted for.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he was believed to be dead.

The UN's stabilisation mission plays a vital role in ensuring security in Haiti.

Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the US, said the presidential palace, the tax office, the ministry of commerce and the foreign ministry had all been damaged, but the airport was intact.

He and Haiti's ambassador to Mexico, Robert Manuel, both said that President Rene Preval and his wife had survived the quake.

The World Bank said its local offices were destroyed but most of the staff were accounted for, Reuters reported.



At least help is with them now I think, and more on it's way, all seemed very well co ordinated but the people have had so long outside with little shelter and in shock, many more will die I fear as well as all those already dead or trapped, injured and dyinGg.

As the report says law and order will be undermined by the loss of the UN influence.

Lizx

"I am surprised there is no mention of the dreadful earthquakes that happened in Haiti"

Why are you surprised? There are in fact a couple of threads but even so it doesn't mean we don't care.

Sue

A group of British Firefighters arrived out there this morning to help recover bodies and (hopefully) living people from the rubble.

Gentle nudge please

Thank you
xx

It's so ridiculous that the help is getting close and not being able to get into Haiti yet. One British group were on a plane and it wasn't able to land so had to go back to D. R. I think it was where the others were waiting too.
What stuff is getting into the airport seems to be being held up by red tape or something, it said on the news, and one encampment of displaced people very close to the airport have no aid yet, stupid when it is so close and people are dying.
Makes you so frustrated when you feel you want to help and yet nothing is happening yet. That poor man who had lost some of his family and was with his daughter in the hospital, he said she needs an operation but can't have it as nothing there and she will die. He must be going mad with it all,, I know I would. The doctors don't have the medicine they need or the staff to cope with so many people having been killed and no one seems to be taking charge. Even the Bishop has been killed apparently.

Makes you wonder how the people keep any faith

Lizx

Just found this:

Growing chaos slows aid for Haiti
Last Updated: Thursday, 14 January 2010, 18:02 GMT-

The UN headquarters were severely damaged in the Haiti earthquake (AP)
Desperately needed supplies and rescue workers have started pouring into Haiti from around the world, but aid groups face huge challenges trying to reach quake survivors.
Ship deliveries are impossible to the capital Port-au-Prince because the area has been too badly damaged, and while the airport is open it is struggling to handle a spate of flights carrying experts and aid.
Fearful of going near quake-damaged buildings, Haitians have been resting in the roads, slowing the transport of food and other crucial aid.
"It's chaos, it's a logistical nightmare," UN humanitarian spokeswoman

http://www.dec.org.uk/item/34

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8460380.stm

Britons have donated more than £2m to an appeal to help earthquake-stricken Haiti in the space of 36 hours.
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which has broadcast appeals on TV and radio, said it was delighted and Gordon Brown called it "extraordinary".

UK rescue workers are among those trying to find survivors. So far 30 Britons have been found safe and well, but one UK woman is still missing.

A two-year-old girl was rescued from a collapsed building by UK firefighters. The child was trapped under piles of rubble in the capital Port-au-Prince and was rescued on the first full day of deployment for the 64-strong team. Mike Thomas, chief officer of the fire and rescue team, said finding the girl had been "a real boost".

Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake has left as many as 45,000-50,000 people dead.

The aid operation is being hampered by poor infrastructure - the small airport is struggling to deal with the number of flights and the roads and port have been badly damaged.

Money donated to the DEC - which brings together 13 major British-based charities - is being spent on search and rescue, medical care, food, clean water, temporary shelter and clothes.

It was awful to watch on the news the ex prisoners with machetes, running around threatening people so they could take what they wanted from where ever there was anything of use or value.

Wonderful that some people have been saved tho, but so awful to see the head of the school who was injured but no treatment available so his sister has taken him home, and there he is, receiving no help or medical aid - I do hope he pulls through.

It's great that people are donating money so more aid can be sent or bought but if it can't get there and is stuck in Dominican Republic etc it concerns me that it might be stolen, sold off or filtered away from where it is needed. Such a shame it has taken so long to get aid to the people who so desperately need it, may they find the strength to hang on and stay alive.

Lizx