Magnitude 7.0 - HAITI REGION

LinkRescuers say three alive in Haiti supermarket.....

All rescuers saw of Saint-Helene Jean-Louis when they arrived at the collapsed University of Port-au-Prince building were the top of her head and her left hand.

Rescuers from the Fairfax County, Virginia, Urban Search and Rescue team tore away through a few more layers, digging down and sideways to free her upper body. She was able to sip a little water.

Nearly 30 hours later, working in two shifts, they pulled Jean-Louis out of the building — still alive. She was able to say her name before being whisked away to an Israeli field hospital.

"To me, she's the hero of the group," said Fairfax County firefighter Richard McKinney. "She had to have spent that first night by herself."

Other foreign and national rescue teams worked feverishly to get to survivors in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Late Saturday, American rescuers were trying to free three people trapped alive in the rubble of a suburban supermarket. They managed to shout back and forth with the survivors, and get them water, but had just started attempting to reach them

Contact has been very brief because they are still yelling through concrete slabs," said Joseph Zahralban, captain of a FEMA urban search and rescue team based out of Miami, Florida, that was taking part in the rescue effort. "They are aware of the fact we are attempting to rescue them."

Mexico's Rescue Brigade, a group with mole-like tunneling skills that located survivors after Mexico's deadly 1985 earthquake and in New York after Sept. 11, pulled 35-year-old teacher Jean Baptiste Patrick alive from the rubble of the St. Gerard Technical School on Saturday, according to an Associated Press photographer who witnessed the rescue. The brigade worked in coordination with Mexican federal police and the Mexican Navy.

[edit on 17/1/10 by argentus]

I can somewhat imagine what the rescuers are going through -- I was a first responder for both the 6.9 Loma Prieta and 7.0 Northridge earthquake, as well as others. I say "somewhat imagine" because while the magnitudes of both of those temblors were similiar, the living conditions (San Francisco area, Los Angeles) were vastly different.

Parts of L.A. area were pretty much a war zone. Horrible to imagine what parts of Haiti must be like. I'll try to add to Haiti's situation as I find things that havent' been posted yet.

[insert diety of choice]speed

www.buenosairesnews.net...

Haiti given over to US troops in emergency
Buenos Aires News.Net
Sunday 17th January, 2010

Haiti has declared a state of emergency with US soldiers given the order to keep watch on the country's streets, which are being prowled by thieves and looters.

With helicopters hovering around the capital to make food and aid drops, lack of security at landing zones has become a problem.

Lieutenant General Ken Keen, the commander of the US military operation in Haiti, has said US troops will work to restore security with the
thousands of US military reservists ordered into the country by President Obama.

Hundreds of thousands of hungry Haitians are still waiting for help, and many of them have made their way to makeshift camps on streets which are strewn with rubble and decomposing bodies.

People are turning more desperate by the day.

Hundreds of looters have been reported in Port-au-Prince in a second day of violence in which they fought each other with knives and other objects while police tried to scatter them with gunfire.

At least two suspected looters were shot dead.

Many heavily-armed gang members have broken out of prison to join the looters.

It is believed 3,000 prisoners escaped from the island's main prison following the earthquake.

There have also been scrums of people at distribution points, scrabbling for food packets, army rations and water bottles.

Haitian government officials said the total death toll was likely to be between 100,000 and 200,000.

Trucks piled with corpses were ferrying bodies to hurriedly excavated mass graves outside the city, but tens of thousands of victims are still believed buried under the rubble.

Rescue workers in Haiti claim to have saved many lives over the weekend, in an extremely challenging operation.

UN representatives claim 70 people were rescued from collapsed structures in a relief operation which has now been going on for five days in the aftermath of the magnitude-7 quake.

As the digging continues, workers and medical officials have estimated that people might live for around six days in the rubble.

43 rescue teams have flown in from around the world with 161 sniffer dogs and high-tech equipment to determine if there is hope for those still buried.

Deliveries of relief supplies to Haiti have started to improve, although a critical concern for relief workers has been the shortage of fuel for vehicles.

The UN has begun to look for new sources of fuel so relief vehicles can continue to operate.

Some aid has been arriving through the neighbouring country, the Dominican Republic, via two small private airports in Santo Domingo.

Military pesonnel have been moving to clear damage from Port-au-Prince's seaport so that it can be used as well.

With US forces now in place to take charge of certain aspects of civil control, security has become a key component of the a humanitarian assistance operation.

Troops are in Haiti on a mission of security and stability, which is being coupled with humanitarian assistance.

With so much material flowing into Haiti, the military has taken responsibility for more effective management of the airport and the expansion into alternate routes, including port-sea access.

www.weartv.com...

Elderly and abandoned, 85 Haitians await death
January 17, 2010 21:38 EST


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- At a nursing home near Haiti's airport, another of the residents has died while waiting for help to arrive.

There has been no food, water or medicine for the 85 surviving residents of the facility barely a mile from the airport where the international aid effort is taking shape.

About two dozen men and 60 women have been camping outside -- some with a mattress in the dirt to lie on.

The administrator there says aid has been slow to arrive, partly because the facility is located near one of Haiti's most violent and dangerous slums. Thousands of homeless slum dwellers have pitched their makeshift tents on the grounds of the nursing home -- in effect keeping the elderly patients shielded from the outside world by a tense maze of angry people who are themselves hungry and thirsty.

One woman says she and others believed that their relatives would come to feed them, because many live in the nearby slums. But she says she doesn't even know if her children are alive.

www.ksla.com...

Violence increases in Haiti
Posted: Jan 17, 2010 10:09 PM EST
Updated: Jan 17, 2010 10:09 PM EST
KSLA News 12 Headlines More>>Vikings, Jets winFour college students dead in motel fireViolence increases in HaitiDespair, frustration linger but some progress in rescue and relief effortsS'port records its 3rd homicide this weekendEast Texans prepare for trip, bringing aid to HaitiS'port church missionaries return after trip to HaitiConsumers are squeezed as inflation outpaces wagesDrug companies threatening to oppose health billDooley resigns as LA Tech football coachPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Flare-ups of violence are increasing in Haiti, as a growing number of looters roam the streets of Port-au-Prince.

Many struggling Haitians are angry and frustrated that it's taking so long to get help

At the Vieux Marche, or Old Market, police tried to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing looters today by driving trucks through the crowds. Hundreds scrambled over partly destroyed shops grabbing anything they could.

Elsewhere downtown, gunfire rang out and bands of machete-wielding young men roamed the streets, their faces hidden by bandanas.

Police used tear gas to scatter looters at street markets near the collapsed presidential palace. At the Cite Soleil slum, moments after police drove by, a reporter spotted a gunman stealing a bag of rice from a motorcycle rider.

www.washingtonpost.com...

Coast Guard crews jump into triage effort, starting clinic for Haiti earthquake survivors

Monday, January 18, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI -- Two U.S. Coast Guard cutters rushed to Haiti the day after the earthquake, arriving near the damaged Haitian coast guard base. Scores of people had gathered there, suffering broken bones and bloody gashes.

But there was a problem: The cutters didn't run clinics.

Now they do.

An oral surgeon and flight surgeon were whisked in from the USS Carl Vinson. Three emergency medical technicians and two health specialists sped to the coast on fast boats from the cutters, the Mohawk and Tahoma.

As for other Coast Guard personnel, "they've learned on the spot how to give IVs and make splints,'' said Lt. Dave Torres, operations officer on the Tahoma.

On Sunday, an IT worker from the Tahoma was giving out antibiotics at the clinic. Firefighters were sewing up people. Doors were being used as stretchers.

Scores of Haitians sat on the rocky ground outside the makeshift clinic, cradled by relatives and covered by blankets. Many had legs wrapped in gauze. Some had cardboard signs on their chests describing their injuries.

Triage occurred in the yard. In the operating room, in a dilapidated Haitian coast guard building, a woman swabbed the floor around medical workers who were bent over patients on three wooden tables.

The most seriously injured patients were carried by speedboats to the cutters and airlifted to medical facilities. But despite the grim scene, there was also reason for joy.

"Without medical facilities, we delivered a baby today," Torres said.


-- Mary Beth Sheridan

[edit on 17-1-2010 by JBA2848]

So does anybody know where the President of Haiti ran off to. He gave a interview the day after the quake and has never been seen since.

Originally posted by JBA2848
So does anybody know where the President of Haiti ran off to. He gave a interview the day after the quake and has never been seen since.

Possibly here..

An aid donors meeting will take place in the Dominican Republic on Monday to start analysing Haiti's reconstruction needs following a devastating earthquake.

The announcement came from the office of the Dominican President, Leonel Fernandez.

It said that Haiti's President, Rene Preval, and representatives of international financial institutions and governments would attend the preparatory meeting.

So too would leaders and officials of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), a regional economic bloc of which Haiti is a member.

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning is the first Caricom head of government to confirm his attendance publicly.

source
www.bbc.co.uk...

Not sure if this is going to help.

The Africa Partnership Station 10 Security Cooperation Marine Air Ground Task Force is deploying to Haiti, according to officials at Camp Lejeune.

There are about 130 Marines and Sailors in the task force, which the military says is built around a Marine rifle company and reinforced by an AAV platoon. It is part of the II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune.

The task force was scheduled to deploy to the coast of West Africa, but they were re-routed following the devastating earthquake in Haiti that struck January 12.
source
www.witn.com...

Refugees try to flee Port-au-Prince as security situation in Haiti deteriorates

Indeed, all over Port-au-Prince, signs begging for help from the Marines have been sprouting. In front of one crushed office building, a typical sign read: "Welcome the U.S. Marine. We need some help. Dead bodies inside." Another read: "U.S. Marines SOS. We need help."

At this point, though, it's unlikely that there will be a large U.S. military presence in Port-au-Prince. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this weekend that there will be up to 10,000 U.S. forces in Haiti and off its coast by Monday, but only a fraction of them will be on the ground.

"The bulk of them will be on ships," he said.

This is a small clip from a 2 page article which goes on to say the difficulty with getting troops on the ground has to do with bottle neck at the airport.

I'm really not certain what the deal is here. Another article from the UK stated that UN peace keeping forces are mainly camped out around the UN and not a significant presence in neighborhoods of the city.

It appears that security fears are preventing the deployment of troops, which in turn prevent the distribution of food and other supplies.

Having tons of food and water supplies at the airport does absolutely no good at all since they they turn away crowds at the airport demanding food and water.

Food and water must be distributed NOW if not SOONER!

Just breaking. 30 Americans are injured in incident in earthquake-ravaged capital of #Haiti - CNN

Not sure wether its Quake related or Humanitarian, either way its not looking good over there.

10% chance is HAARP. Yes I am paranoid.
The 10% will be there for all future earthquakes, as long as HAARP is still there and we don't know exactly what it does.








[edit on 18-1-2010 by pai mei]

reply to post by ROBL240


CNN just updated that 30 american mass cas event and it was only 3 actual injuries.

After 5 days, my daughter's former roommate finally got in touch with her family in Haiti, they are all fine, the entire family from grandparents to nieces and nephews and in laws are all fine.

This is great news.

In regards to the Haiti earthquake and other recent earthquakes, Yellowstone, New Mexico, Guatemala, ect., has anyone gone to the USGS website and noticed that 1970 was a very active year? Here we are 40 years later and it is an active year. My husband stated that he believed 40 is a number from the Bible and major things often happen on the Earth every 40 years. Has anyone studied this? Could the Haiti earthquake be some kind of 40 year cyclical phenomenon predicted in the Bible? I don't know much about this and would like more informaton. Thanks!

reply to post by kwill1228


I believe 40 in translation from ancient text should have truely been a word more like many. Wonder in the desert for many days, Ali Baba and the many thieves.

Caymans had a big jolt.
Very interesting activity.
If the volcano in St Lucia erupts we have 30 days until major changes.

wfplogistics.org...

Update: Haiti Earthquake 2010

Update Jan 19 1330z

Air Ops Update

The airport at Port au Prince remains extremely congested. A slot system has been created by the US Government pending the following criteria:

Size of aircraft (bigger aircraft take longer to off-load and take more space);

Aircraft requiring ramp space (small aircraft are parked on the grass, requiring no ramp space);

Cargo transported as per the following priorities:
priority 1: Water related materials
priority 2: Logistics Enablers
priority 3: Food materials
priority 4: Medical supplies

One WFP-contracted cargo airplane (12 mt) managed by UNHAS will be used to shuttle goods from the airport in Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince.

Road Status

MINUSTAH has established an escort system from the DR border to Port-au-Prince. Trucks crossing the border will escorted in convoy to Port-au-Prince. There is no need to submit a request for the procedure.

The road to the south pier at the port has been repaired and is now fit for heavy machinery.

The road from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel is broken and while all-terrain vehicles can pass, for heavier vehicles a detour is necessary passing via Miragoane, Fond-des-Blanc, Cote de Fer and Bainet.

Fuel

In response to dwindling fuel resources, WFP has signed a fuel contract with Shell in Santo Domingo. A first delivery of 10,000 gallons is due in Port-au-Prince tomorrow.

Acommodation

A humanitarian base camp is now under construction and is expected to be completed within the next few days.

Check also the updates on The Logistics Cluster website.

So who decided the order of priorities.
priority 1: Water related materials
priority 2: Logistics Enablers
priority 3: Food materials
priority 4: Medical supplies

[edit on 19-1-2010 by JBA2848]

www.dailypress.com...

Anhueser-Busch InBev to can fresh water to send to Haiti quake victims
The world's largest brewer, which owns the former Anhueser-Busch brewery in James City County, is joining the international relief effort to help quake victims in Haiti.

Anhueser-Bussh InBev, North America announced Tuesday it was tapping into its production capacity to provide, among other supplies and cash, beer cans filled with filtered drinking water.

The day after the devastating earthquake, the company's AmBev business in Latin America shipped nearly 350,000 cans of drinking water from its brewery in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, the nation that shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti. The brewery, only 160 miles from Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, was one of the first to get aid the victims, said a statement from the company released Tuesday.

The company's brewery in Cartersville, Ga., is working with the American Red Cross to ship another 600,000 cans of water in coming days. The company plans to donate nearly 1 million cans of water, according to the statement.

Talk about watered down beer. I just wonder if the labeling would still show beer on the cans.

reply to post by kwill1228


The number 40 is associated with a test or a judgement in the Bible. Things don't run in 40 year periods. Jesus was tempted for 40 days. During the flood it rained 40 days and nights. The Jews wondered for 40 years.
Jewish cycles run in 7's and the Jubilee in 50 yr cycles.
It's interesting,but I'm not sure what signifigance to place on it, if any.