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Earthquake hits Haiti

What the hell is wrong with people? I'm seriously stunned by some of the comments in this thread.

When people need help, you help them any way you can. That's it.:hit:
 
Then you divide people into categories. I'd rather help people than not help people. What a stupid argument.
 
Francesca R said:
How about if Sweden had some calamity that decked Stockholm and killed a few hundred thousand of your citizens? Would you lobby your government to spurn any offers of financial assistance from overseas?
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This is a good exercise in empathy, BTW. Since tuesday, I keep trying to imagine Ottawa's parliament destroyed, hospitals running out of supplies, no more water, and bodies piling up the streets around where I live.

Truly unimaginable. :(
 
"Horrific stories of death.Death is everywhere.Death is all over PauP.doors as stretchers.Camionettes as ambulances."

Tweeted by musician/Hotelier Richie Morris from Haiti in the last hour.

So horrifying.
 
The Main Dock in Port Au Prince is a wreck,ships can't use it to land supplies.
The US Marine/Navy Amphibious units on their way are going to get the workout of their lives,since operating without a dock is one of the things they are trained to do.
 
Americans, please go to the airport. No, don't go to the airport.


5:59 p.m. -- U.S. State Department clarifies: Americans do not go to airport now. Seek safe shelter.

5:45 p.m. -- U.S. State Department: About 160 American citizens are at airport waiting for evacuation to Guantanamo. U.S. has heard from less than 100 other Americans. Two C-130s at airport, prepared to evacuate American citizens.

5:36 p.m. -- U.S. State Department asks journalists to get out the word: U.S. citizens in Haiti who want to be evacuated -- go to airport.
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Drewbot said:
Surely you can spare the 900 bucks "900.000" that you sent.
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Very deserving of a donation of any kind.

It looks like the casualty toll may be lower than original estimates, too, but the already frail infrastructure has been badly damaged.
 
12:23 p.m. -- FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown says the Haitian government is not accepting incoming flights because ramp space at the Port au Prince airport is full and no fuel is available. The FAA isn't giving take-off clearances for Haiti-bound flights until space becomes available. There are 10 civilian and and one military aircraft in a holding pattern, waiting to get into Port-au-Prince.
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Loitering in the air eats fuel. They have none at the airport.


3:02 p.m. -- Lindy Lincoln, a program officer for the American Red Cross, says Tuesday's earthquake destroyed about 10 percent of houses in Port-au-Prince -- dwellings of about 200,000 people.
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Only 1 in 10 homes were destroyed?
 
Fiona said:
http://www.dec.org.uk/

UK disaster appeal now open for donations
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This is absolutely dreadful. Especially now.

Just a few weeks ago I had a letter from Christian Aid (one of the DEC charities) saying that due to the recession they had much less money at their disposal than they had anticipated, and that unless they received a fair bit of moolah before February they were going to have to sit down and decide who not to help (of people they had already pledged to help).

I sent them some dough, of course, and ticked the box for "do what you think best with the money" (why do they give donors any other option for goodness sake?), but this does not bode well. If they were that strapped for cash in late December, I don't suppose they are the only charity in that position.

In November I took part in two performances of Monteverdi's Vespers in aid of a charity providing school meals for children in third world countries. I discovered the wife of our local councillor is heavily involved with the charity (not abroad though, thankfully). I now read in the newspaper that several of that charity's staff are missing in Haiti.

I hope they can get help through to these poor people very soon, it looks appalling.

Rolfe.
 
The 82nd Airborne has an advance company on the ground in Haiti, and a full batallion will arrrive tommorow. That should help the security situation, which is going to have to be taken care of before major relief efforts can really begin. It should keep any ambitious Haitian Gang Boss from playing Somali War Lord, which is a major concern.
 
William Parcher said:
...
Only 1 in 10 homes were destroyed?
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The figure is higher than that.

In the area of Port-au-Prince where our office building was flattened, I'm told that 97% of housing stock was destroyed. Our country manager (who was trapped in the building for a while) adds that in the area where he lives, further out of town, the destruction rate was about 45%.

Clearly there're differences between geographical areas - which is to be expected. But it's also worth saying that the two areas he's talking about are made up of well-built concrete buildings.

The majority of people live in badly built houses on steep hillsides... This is the third night for survivors since the disaster. A BBC reporter said this evening that while aid was piling up at the airport, he personally hadn't seen signs of it getting through to the people who needed it yet. It's a difficult job, I know, but I do hope the help gets through to where it's needed soon.
 
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