Tweets From Haiti
Testimonials and requests for help from Haiti on the web
On Twitter @RAMhaiti
2:27 p.m.: We are ok at the Oloffson..thanx for asking..surrounding neighborhoods have been hit hard..logistical help is minimal
1:25 p.m.: I see bodies in the street..I see bodies buried in rubble..there are going to be food, medical supply and water issues.. decomposing bodies.
1:05 p.m.: We still feel occasional tremors here but they’re not that strong..no electricity..no logistical support to speak of.
12:55 a.m.: People are buried in the St Gerard School by St Gerard Church..we heard voices in the rubble.I saw bodies..no official vehicles in area.
On Twitter @Internethaiti
2:20 p.m.: Petit-Goave should be severely affected (Petit-Goave devrait être durement touchée)
1:29 p.m.: More than ever, Internet is vital in Haiti, like water and electricity
3:07 a.m.: last aftershock in Haiti was at 02:23 ET with 4.4 magnitude #Haiti #HaitiQuake #HelpHaiti
2:07 a.m.: Two new aftershock at 01:48 and 01:58 ET with 4.5 and 4.7 magnitude #Haiti #HaitiQuake #HelpHaiti
On Twitter @troylivesay
3:38 a.m.: Church groups are singing throughout the city all through the night in prayer. It is a beautiful sound in the middle of a horrible tragedy
Jan. 12 | 5:24 p.m.: Just experienced a MAJOR earthquake here in Port au Prince – walls were falling down. – we are ALL fine – pray for those in the slums
Jan. 12 | 8:20 p.m.: In our area mostly exterior walls fallen – people afraid to re-enter their homes…
Jan. 12 |8:22 p.m.: Tipap made it home from Carrefour – saw many dead bodies and injured along the way – said most buidings w/more than one story are down
On Twitter @fredodupoux
2:00 p.m.: Just saw tijoe zenny driving down canapevert ! No he’s not dead
1:41 p.m.: People camping on the saint therese parc in petion ville
12:41 a.m.: dead bodies are everywhere i havent seen one ambulance or any proffesionl med care anywhere in port-au-prince
Jan. 12 | 6:05 p.m.: Words on the streets part of Hotel Montana Fell , exagone is cracked. houses in canape vert fell down #haiti #eq”
On Twitter @VICE2K
12:00 p.m.: Ohhh my god this is an ongoing nightmareeeeeeee….RIP JC……
12:02 p.m.: yes it’s confirmed…sad man sad….We’re devastated over here… I wanna shut my eyes and hope this is all a nightmare!!!
9:14 a.m.: OMG I was hoping to wake up today and find out it was all a nightmare but its getting worst and worst!!!
On Twitter @tyrabanks
2:42 p.m.: My thoughts are w/ all those suffering in Haiti during this major catastrophe. I donated, u should too: text “YELE” to 50 …
On Twitter @wyclef
5:10 a.m.: My flight leaves for the D R n one hour! Can’t fly into haiti direct as you know pray for the people of haiti n me please #warriors
On Twitter @yelehaiti
2:25 a.m.: I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse.
On Twitter @407Rob
2 p.m.: Consumed w finding friend in Port-au-Prince #Haiti. have any contacts there DM me please. His wife has not had cntc. Was at #MontannaHotel
On Twitter @bluenotebetty
1:19 p.m.: #PLEASEHELP! looking for# family/friends in #Haiti. Greg Love, John Maples, and Clayton Stoltzfus. Contact me ASAP with info, please #Haiti
On Twitter @yatalley
2:30 p.m.: the road from Port-au-prince to jacmel is cut and there’s no way to pass…even on a rhino or a motorcycle.
12:58 p.m.: and the ONLY hospital in jacmel is DOWN
On Twitter @yvescolon
11:42 p.m.: one aunt is OK, but still no word about mom. Any news on Rue St. Surin on Canape Vert road? Can’t reach my mom.
On Twitter @LadyDior47
1:36 p.m.: do you know what neighborhood rue l’enterrement is in? My aunt owns a store there. I cannot get in contact with her 
On Twitter @iamadopted
1:32 p.m.: checking my school email to see if there has been an update on the Lynn University students in Haiti
On Twitter @lmroces
1:12 p.m.: Does anybody know the status of the Salesian Sisters in Haiti? We have received little word.
On Twitter @haiti
1:18 p.m.: No Cathedral. Entire Holy Trinity complex, convent for the Sisters of St. Margaret , Ep. Bishop’s house, College St. Pierre is gone.
1:17 p.m.: Apartment for College St. Pierre still standing. Bishop Duracene no longer has a house in which to live.
Haitian President Rene’ Preval Issues Urgent Plea For Assistance
From The Miami Herald…Thank You:
By JACQUELINE CHARLES, CAROL ROSENBERG, JEAN-CYRIL PRESSOIR AND JIM WYSS
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian President René Préval issued an urgent appeal for his earthquake-shattered nation Wednesday, saying he had been stepping over dead bodies and hearing the cries of those trapped under the rubble of the national Parliament.
Préval, in his first interview since the earthquake, said the country was destroyed and he believed there were thousands of people dead but was reluctant to provide a number.
“We have to do an evaluation,” Préval said, describing the scene as “unimaginable.”
“Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed,” he said. “There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them.”
The U.N. said casualties were “vast” but impossible to calculate.
The International Red Cross said a third of Haiti’s nine million people may need emergency aid and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge, the Associated Press reported.
Along the border with the Dominican Republic, Haitians were fleeing the devastation.
“I don’t have work, I don’t have a future here,” said Antonio Bacevil, 39, a farmer wearing ragged shorts and muddy boat shoes who was on his way to Santiago. “What you see is what I have. . . . A lot of people are dead.”
The U.S. State Department said there are 45,000 American citizens living in Haiti and efforts were being made to locate them. Of the more than 170 personnel at the U.S. Embassy, eight were injured, four of them seriously enough to be evacuated by the Coast Guard, officials said in a briefing.
Préval said he had traveled through several neighborhoods and seen the damage. “All of the hospitals are packed with people. It is a catastrophe,” he said.
While official details about the scope of the damage were scarce, eyewitness accounts and media reports painted a nightmarish picture of widespread destruction that was feared to have claimed tens of thousands, if not more.
A hospital collapsed and people were heard screaming for help. The U.N. said Haiti’s principal prison had crumbled and inmates had escaped. A Florida-based shipper said the cranes at the Port-au-Prince cargo pier had toppled into the water and that much of the pier was destroyed. The second story and dome of the ornate Presidential Palace pancaked onto the first floor. The Parliament lay in ruins, trapping Senate President Kely Bastien, Préval said.
The body of the Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Joseph Serge Miot, 63, was found in the rubble of his office, the Associated Press reported.
The World Bank offices in Petionville were also destroyed, but most of the staff were safely accounted for, the organization said.
In Washington Wednesday, President Barack Obama said search-and-rescue teams from Florida, California and Virginia were on their way to Haiti and that USAID would be coordinating a broad-based effort to take food, water and emergency supplies to the nation.
“We have to be there for them in their hour of need,” he said.
The military also swung into action early Wednesday, moving a 30-member advance team from Southern Command in Miami by C-130 cargo plane to work with U.S. Embassy personnel and sending a Navy reconnaissance plane from a U.S base in Comalpa, El Salvador, to study the quake damage. The Navy also diverted the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to Haiti. It was expected to be off the coast Thursday.
Publix Supermarket Accepting Donations For Haiti Relief Effort
From Associated Press:
LAKELAND, Fla. –
Grocery store chain Publix Super Markets said Wednesday it will accept donations from customers and employees in Florida to help victims of the earthquake that struck Haiti Tuesday.
The company also said Publix Super Markets Charities will give $100,000 to the relief efforts. The money will be sent to the American Red Cross for the Haiti Relief & Development Fund.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck just west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday and it is feared thousands have died. President Barack Obama has promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort.
Customers will have the option to give any amount by adding it to their grocery bills at checkout. The company said the program would be offered for a few weeks, depending on customer response to it.
Maria Brous, the company’s director of media and community relations, said many Publix employees and their families come from Haiti.
Publix Super Markets Inc., based in Lakeland, Fla., is privately held.
Remarks By President Obama On Rescue Efforts In Haiti
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON RESCUE EFFORTS IN HAITI
Diplomatic Reception Room
10:20 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. This morning I want to extend to the people of Haiti the deep condolences and unwavering support of the American people following yesterday’s terrible earthquake.
We are just now beginning to learn the extent of the devastation, but the reports and images that we’ve seen of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes, and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching. Indeed, for a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the many Haitian Americans around our country who do not yet know the fate of their families and loved ones back home.
I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief — the food, water and medicine — that Haitians will need in the coming days. In that effort, our government, especially USAID and the Departments of State and Defense are working closely together and with our partners in Haiti, the region, and around the world.
Right now our efforts are focused on several urgent priorities. First, we’re working quickly to account for U.S. embassy personnel and their families in Port-au-Prince, as well as the many American citizens who live and work in Haiti. Americans trying to locate family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at 888/407-4747 888/407-4747. I’m going to repeat that – 888/407-4747 888/407-4747.
Second, we’ve mobilized resources to help rescue efforts. Military overflights have assessed the damage, and by early afternoon our civilian disaster assistance team are beginning to arrive. Search and rescue teams from Florida, Virginia and California will arrive throughout today and tomorrow, and more rescue and medical equipment and emergency personnel are being prepared.
Because in disasters such as this the first hours and days are absolutely critical to saving lives and avoiding even greater tragedy, I have directed my teams to be as forward-leaning as possible in getting the help on the ground and coordinating with our international partners as well.
Third, given the many different resources that are needed, we are taking steps to ensure that our government acts in a unified way. My national security team has led an interagency effort overnight. And to ensure that we coordinate our effort, going forward, I’ve designated the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Dr. Rajiv Shah, to be our government’s unified disaster coordinator.
Now, this rescue and recovery effort will be complex and challenging. As we move resources into Haiti, we will be working closely with partners on the ground, including the many NGOs from Haiti and across Haiti, the United Nations Stabilization Mission, which appears to have suffered its own losses, and our partners in the region and around the world. This must truly be an international effort.
Finally, let me just say that this is a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share. With just a few hundred miles of ocean between us and a long history that binds us together, Haitians are neighbors of the Americas and here at home. So we have to be there for them in their hour of need.
Despite the fact that we are experiencing tough times here at home, I would encourage those Americans who want to support the urgent humanitarian efforts to go to whitehouse.gov where you can learn how to contribute. We must be prepared for difficult hours and days ahead as we learn about the scope of the tragedy. We will keep the victims and their families in our prayers. We will be resolute in our response, and I pledge to the people of Haiti that you will have a friend and partner in the United States of America today and going forward.
May God bless the people of Haiti and those working on their behalf.
Thank you very much.
The Washington Review & Commentary
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