Earthquake hits Haiti

[The Drain]

Our office in Port-au-Prince is a solid well-built two storey building. Well, it was.
It's been flattened.

Three of our colleagues, including my friend, were trapped for a while but have since been pulled out 'somewhat battered and bruised' and shaken but alive.

They're now back at work with our partner organisations in Haiti (charitable local NGOs) doing rescue work, and organising fresh water - including one which is big enough to have a web presence, Veterimed. Lack of medicine is a problem. So is lack of electricity, and with that the mobile phone network.

Later, over the next few days, we'll have to think about organising food and shelter for the survivors. Longer term, rebuilding.

I want to donate money to help the Hatians. Is the Red Cross the group to give it to? I remember the scandal when donations to help 9/11 victims weren't all used for that.

My advice would be to give to any large well-known international aid agency that already has a presence in Haiti. They have experience with disasters, they generally know what's wanted, and - more to the point - they find out from the survivors themselves what's wanted beforehand.

But please beware of small-scale operations that organise collections of food and clothes to be sent out on an ad hoc basis. Even though established with the best of intentions, the stuff they send is often inappropriate and clog up the system.

 

[sylvan8798]

I want to donate money to help the Hatians. Is the Red Cross the group to give it to? I remember the scandal when donations to help 9/11 victims weren't all used for that.

I support Doctors WIthout Borders, which works around the world. Apparently all 3 of their Haitian hospitals have collapsed and been abandoned, and the doctors are working in parking lots.

 

[grayman]

From PZ Meyer's blog a link to this comment:

Pat Robertson on CBN just said Haiti has had so many troubles bc they swore an oath 2 the Devil in 19th c. 2 free them from the French. #WTF

 

[dudalb]

Port Au Prince is in ruins. The death toll is going to be staggering.
Yeah, gallows humor is not appropriate.
Yeah, the way the media is making this an "event" is pretty obnoxious.
Next step, some showbiz "Celeb" flying to Hispanola to show his concern. I am sure Sean Penn,who has a history of this, is on his way now.

 

[dudalb]

That's a powerful earthquake. I didn't know Haiti was so seismically active.

The whole Carribean is an seismic danger zone. The destruction of Port Royale in Jamaica and Mount Pele show that.
And one area which is going to have a devestating earthquake one day, because they are so totally unprepared for it, is the Mississippi valley. They forget about the biggest earthquake in US recorded history happened there circa 1806. And that is just a few seconds ago in seismic time.

 

[Vorticity]

From PZ Meyer's blog a link to this comment:

Jesus ****ing Christ, Robertson is becoming the Phelps of television*. 'God hates Haiti'.

* Caveat: Assuming he really made the comment.

 

[Vorticity]

CNN is now reporting a death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

 

[grayman]

* Caveat: Assuming he really made the comment.

True that. If corroboration is made I'm sure it will be reported.

 

[Alareth]

Jesus ****ing Christ, Robertson is becoming the Phelps of television*. 'God hates Haiti'.

* Caveat: Assuming he really made the comment.

Pat makes the comment around the 6 minute mark here

 

[Vorticity]

Jesus ****ing Christ, Robertson is becoming the Phelps of television*. 'God hates Haiti'.

* Caveat: Assuming he really made the comment.

But then, of course, this kind of thing doesn't really matter.

The Red Cross is mobilizing. You can make a donation online right now via this link.

ETA:

Says P.Z. Myers:

If it makes you angry, turn your outrage into something constructive and use it to motivate you to donate to Haitian relief first. Deal with the evil scumbag Robertson later.

Yeah.

 

[JihadJane]

From the White House Blog:


~~~~~~~~~
You can also help immediately by donating to the Red Cross to assist the relief effort. Contribute online here, or donate $10 to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999."
~~~~~~~~~

 

[bethysunport]

I support Doctors WIthout Borders, which works around the world. Apparently all 3 of their Haitian hospitals have collapsed and been abandoned, and the doctors are working in parking lots.

A friend of mine is going to Haiti on a Doctors Without Borders mission in February, I wonder if they'll be going now.

 

[Nursefoxfire]

A friend of mine is going to Haiti on a Doctors Without Borders mission in February, I wonder if they'll be going now.

There's a link on their main page where people can donate:

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/

 

[dudalb]

And the country might be going into total chaos. This is going to be one of those situations where even Angels of Mercy need Military Escorts.

 

[Vorticity]

And the country might be going into total chaos. This is going to be one of those situations where even Angels of Mercy need Military Escorts.

Along those lines:

Edmond Mulet, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, told CNN that the National Penitentiary collapsed and the inmates escaped, prompting worries about looting by escapees.

Built in 1915, the prison was overcrowded. Enlarged to a total capacity of 1,200, it held 3,908 inmates in December, the U.S. State Department has said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.earthquake/index.html

 

[dudalb]

You can bet the ready force at Camp LaJeune in North Carolina have gotten a heads up to prepare for emergency deployment.

 

[Fiona]

There was a telephone interview on radio 4's news programme tonight with a woman who runs an orphanage outside port au prince. Their building survived without much damage but she reportd that much of the city is flat. She said that it hit about 5 pm local time and was hopeful that many will have been outdoors because apparently much of life is lived outdoors including cooking.

Nevertheless she was clearly pretty traumatised and expected thousand and thousands of deaths. Her main concern was that they have food for the children in the orphanage for about a week and she does not think there is much chance of getting any more after that

They were still getting aftershocks while she was being interviewed and that was about 3:30 GMT today

some bbc footage here

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8457921.stm

 

[Nursefoxfire]

There was a telephone interview on radio 4's news programme tonight with a woman who runs an orphanage outside port au prince. Their building survived without much damage but she reportd that much of the city is flat. She said that it hit about 5 pm local time and was hopeful that many will have been outdoors because apparently much of life is lived outdoors including cooking.

Nevertheless she was clearly pretty traumatised and expected thousand and thousands of deaths. Her main concern was that they have food for the children in the orphanage for about a week and she does not think there is much chance of getting any more after that

They were still getting aftershocks while she was being interviewed and that was about 3:30 GMT today

I think I saw that: God's Littlest Angels, or some such name? She said her son (14) was at school down in P-a-P and wasn't able to make his way home until about 10 pm last night. I'd have gone out of my MIND if my son was in that situation!

Another news clip I saw was about the passengers of the plane that took off right as the quake was hitting. Imagine flying out of the airport as the ground and buildings crumble away underneath you...shades of "2012" or "The Langoliers"!

 

[Fiona]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pm/

the interview is here for those who can receive it

 

[korenyx]

I just tried to get to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) and the site is overwhelmed.
Methodist workteams have been helping in Haiti for years and the church I attend sends a team down almost every year.