Haiti Earthquake Chronology

Inés Pearce, Senior Advisor to the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and President of Pearce Global Partners, operates the National Disaster Help Desk for Business (1-888-MY-BIZ-HELP), which is supported by the Office Depot Foundation. Her daily updates provide a well-informed, realistic picture of what's happening on the ground in Haiti in the wake of this tremendous tragedy.

▪ Tuesday, February 9, 2010
▪ Thursday, January 28, 2010
▪ Friday, January 25, 2010
▪ Friday, January 21, 2010
▪ Wednesday, January 20, 2010
▪ Monday, January 18, 2010
▪ Sunday, January 17, 2010
▪ Saturday, January 16, 2010
▪ Friday, January 15, 2010 - 2:27 p.m.
▪ Friday, January 15, 2010 - 10:52 a.m.
▪ Thursday, January 14 - 11:27 a.m.
▪ Wednesday, January 13 - 7:30 a.m.
▪ Tuesday, January 12 - 7:08 p.m. (Initial Report)

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Help Desk is continuing to work offers and calls with questions regarding sheltering products, equipment, transportation, tents, stoves, shipping, etc. More than 1,000 phone calls, e-mail inquiries and responses have been logged by the Help Desk since January 12.

Here is the latest on the ground:

The Prime Minister declared that the death toll could be as high as 200,000 people with some 300,000 injured. The number of people leaving Port-au-Prince for rural areas - around 482,349 people

FOOD/SHELTER

Food and shelter remain the priorities for assistance to hundreds of thousands of people in need. The World Food Program-led food surge continues. Over 1.6 million people have received food since the start of the response. Some 600,000 people have received a two-week ration of rice in the last week. They report that people are having difficulty in the North and North-East departments to meet their basic food needs due to an increase in food prices. In addition, people in regions previously considered food secure are reportedly facing difficulties as prices of wheat and bread are becoming out of reach for the general population.

Despite significant logistical challenges, WFP food distributions continue to reach the most severely affected people. WFP has been channeling food support through orphanages and hospitals in order to target some of the most vulnerable groups. WFP plans to increase coverage to include an additional 370 orphanages, in partnership with UNICEF. WFP is also extending its emergency operation for an additional six months in order to continue to assist vulnerable Haitians and to support essential rehabilitation and stabilization measures.

The Government and the Shelter Cluster have adopted a strategy to provide emergency and transitional shelter to the highest number of those in need before the start of the rainy season. This will include distribution of a range of shelter material, including tents, plastic sheeting, fastening fixtures and rope.

Over 24,000 families have received emergency shelter materials. Cluster partners re-evaluate priorities every 72 hours and have identified the following urgent gaps: tarpaulins, shelter kits and transitional shelter materials such as wood, fixings and roofing sheets. There is also a small number of kitchen kits, mosquito nets and rope, and the pipeline is limited.

Seven organized settlements have been established for 42,000 displaced people; some 460,000 people (91,112 families) remain in 315 spontaneous settlements throughout Port-au-Prince.

Sanitation and vector control is becoming a major concern in many of the spontaneous settlements, which lack proper site planning. So far, seven organized settlements have been established for 42,000 displaced people but some 460,000 people are still living in 315 spontaneous settlements throughout Port-au-Prince. Available land continues to be sought in the vicinity of heavily crowded spontaneous settlements in Champs de Mars, Place Boyer and Place St Pierre. It is reported that there are an increasing number of children with diarrhea in temporary settlements.

In need of shelter assistance: there are an estimated 80,000 people in Leogane and an estimated 30,000 in Jacmel, not including the 150,000 in Artibonite staying with host families.

MEDICAL/HEALTH

There are 91 identified functioning hospitals; 59 are in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area (4 public hospitals, 34 NGO or private-run hospitals providing health care and 21 field hospitals). Fifty-six of the 59 facilities in Port-au-Prince have surgical capacity.

Health priorities include mobile clinics for first aid, psychosocial support and post-operative care. Cases of tetanus have been reported. Suspected cases of measles were confirmed as chicken pox. The targeted immunization campaign (measles, diphtheria, rubella, tetanus and whooping) continues to focus on people living in densely populated temporary settlements.

Medical teams are reporting a shift in the types of cases they are receiving. There is a decrease in trauma cases and an increase in mental health needs. Several medical teams report a growing caseload of diarrhea in the last few days. WHO is working to overcome challenges related to the cold chain and the distribution of vaccines for targeted vaccination campaigns where there are high concentrations of people in resettlement areas.

In terms of medical supplies, crutches and x-ray equipment are in short supply and specialists in orthopedic and internal medicine are in high demand.

PAHO/WHO has been compiling information on health facilities and their locations. A dataset of over 900 facilities in Haiti is being developed that shows number of beds, etc.

The caseload for nutrition support is currently estimated at 480,000 children under 5, 120,000 pregnant women and 120,000 lactating women.

NICEF estimates that 50,000 non-breastfed infants need nutritional support. There is currently capacity to reach out to 1,200 of them. The main constraint is the lack of partners. Because of the high numbers of orphans and mothers who are not able to breastfeed, there is a need for infant formula, but it should be provided in a controlled way. A sub-cluster has been activated in Port-au-Prince to oversee all aspects of infant feeding and to ensure coordination.

WATER

788,000 people were being provided with safe drinking water on a daily basis (5 litres per person per day).

The cluster is prioritizing the rapid scaling up of latrine construction. They have completed construction of 847 latrines in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, and Leogane. To accelerate sanitation services, the cluster is developing a proposal to encourage private sector contractors to provide sanitation (portable latrines and services) in temporary settlement sites in Port-au-Prince.

PORT/AIRPORT/TRANSPORT

The port has some congestion due to containers that had arrived prior to the quake and are taking up almost 50% of storage space. The temporary pier repair at the port is not expected to be finished until May. This will be followed by full repairs. The port of Santo Domingo has three terminals within the bay and provides a viable option for cargo arriving by sea.

Some 80 to 90 flights per day are landing at Port-au-Prince airport, down from the peak of 120-150 flights per day. Incoming air cargo has slowed and there is currently no major congestion at the airport. Commercial traffic is expected to resume shortly.

A bottleneck is being caused by goods arriving without clear consignees, addresses and packing lists.

UN can still assist with urgent requests for fuel on an ad hoc basis, but fuel is now available in town and organizations should have no problem securing supplies.

The border at Jimani is highly congested by the large volume of trucks bringing cargo into Haiti from Santo Domingo. This problem is exacerbated on market days (Mondays and Thursdays) when it takes up to two hours each way to make the crossing.

Traffic congestion is a major issue in Port-au-Prince and many roads into the surrounding affected areas are unfit for heavy vehicles.

DIASPORA & OUTLYING AREAS' ISSUES

The Haitian Government reported that more than 341,000 persons have departed Port-au-Prince for locations outside the capital. This represents an increase of approximately 80,000 people from the previously reported figure of 260,000, but this may largely be based on better reporting rather than new movements. Over a third of the total - some 133,000 individuals - have arrived in Artibonite department. The Government is concerned about the potential strain on local resources and service infrastructure in these outlying departments.

Local authorities in Jacmel and Leogane, and responding agencies, reported urgent needs in the provision of emergency shelter, camp management, protection, and specialized medical care in orthopedics and physical therapy. Partners also called for a further roll-out of the cluster coordination structure at the departmental level.

Eighteen assessment teams visited 11 areas, concluding coverage of all Port-au-Prince communal sections. Assessments of areas outside of Port-au-Prince continued. There have been some delays in the assessment due to the inaccessibility of several communes, including Kenscoff and Carrefour. It is expected that the needs in these isolated areas will be especially high.

SCHOOLS

Estimates are that 90 percent of schools in West department and 60 percent of schools in Southeast department have been damaged or destroyed. The results of rapid needs assessments will be available early next week in order to confirm these figures. The Education Cluster plans to erect 720 temporary learning spaces and provide some 350,000 primary school aged children with learning and recreation materials.

Estimates are that 450,000 children have been displaced by the earthquake. Directors of the departments which were not affected have been requested to register displaced children so they can access schools. Although schools in non-affected areas re-opened on February 1, the attendance rate has been very low. Parents are interested and willing to send their children back to school but there are still fears of aftershocks. The Ministry of Education is broadcasting radio messages to the population and plans to provide incentive packages to children and cash to teachers to encourage a return to school. There is a concern that if schools do not open by 31 March, the school year will be too short for full completion.

RECOVERY

The Government of Haiti has asked for quick implementation of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and Recovery Framework (RF). Discussions are currently underway among the Government, European Commission, United Nations, World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank regarding the scope and timing of both the planning mission and the PDNA/RF. The Ministry of Planning has been designated as the lead government institution for the PDNA. A space at the MINUSTAH LogBase will serve as the central location for the PDNA teams (government and other partners alike). This space will be functional for 18 staff, expanding to at least 60 work stations in the coming days.

"Who is doing what where" has been carried out in order to establish a distribution plan. The cluster is populating a Tracking Matrix.

Contingency planning is underway to prepare for the upcoming rainy season, taking into consideration displaced populations and logistic shortcomings. Haiti experiences two rainy seasons: April to June and October to November; the hurricane season is from June 1 to November 30. Over 90 percent of the recent disasters in Haiti have been linked to hydrological and climate-related hazards such as tropical cyclones, flash floods and landslides, all of which have been further exacerbated by massive deforestation.

The Government is evaluating the physical status of various ministries and state institutions, many of which were destroyed during the earthquake. The World Bank, EU, Canada and the US have offered to help with the relocation and reconstruction of buildings for the Government authorities. Given the level of damage inflicted on the Ministry of Education building, UNICEF has provided a large tent to ensure adequate working space for civil servants. MINUSTAH continues to provide support to the Ministry of Justice in retrieving archives from collapsed judicial buildings.

Humanitarian organizations continue to partner with local radio stations to broadcast important messages to affected populations such as how to get food and where to get vaccinated.

SECURITY

While the overall security situation in Port-au-Prince remains stable, crowd control requirements at food distribution sites remain a concern. Inflated prices for food and other essentials are contributing to rising tensions among the population. There is growing concern of restiveness and crime prompted by shortages of shelter, jobs, and sanitation.

The newly established Joint Operations and Tasking Centre (JOTC) is coordinating procedures for requesting military or police assistance in support of humanitarian relief operations. It is staffed by MINUSTAH, OCHA civil-military personnel and other key partners. The Government is using local radio stations to announce that it is illegal to resell humanitarian aid.

The Un Flash Appeal is currently 89 percent funded.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Haitian government is reporting that 112,392 have died and 196,501 people have been injured by the earthquake. Some 262,901 people have left the earthquake-affected areas for departments in the north and west. The number of displaced people ranges from 800,000 to one million.

Hundreds of thousands of people remain in need of food and shelter. Relief supplies are being distributed throughout affected areas but the needs continue to outweigh the response. The priorities for assistance are food, including ready-to-eat meals and beans and rice, and shelter, including tents and shelter material such as plastic sheeting. Thousands of stoves are required in order to transition from ready-to-eat meals to the provision of dry rations of rice and beans. Food, water, and medical are top priorities but frustration was expressed by the local population due to assistance not reaching those most in need. UN teams found that a number of organizations are distributing aid and providing assistance without coordinating their work with the local authorities. Not all of the earthquake-traumatized Haitians are receiving the aid they need, partly because displaced residents are moving from place to place. Another problem has been damage to the south pier of the port in Port-au-Prince, which is reducing the number of containers that can be unloaded due to damage by new tremors yesterday.

World Food Program (WFP) and partners have distributed approximately 3.6 million food rations to a total of 458,000 people. Some 283,000 people have been reached in Port-au-Prince. A total of 175,000 people have been reached in other affected areas. WFP estimates that an additional 70,000 people have been reached in Port-au-Prince by other food actors over the past two weeks. Tens of millions of ready-to-eat meals are required to meet the needs of 2 million people for 15 days. Water is reaching 308,000 people through 133 distribution points in Port-au- Prince.

200,000 family sized tents are requested to support the one million people displaced by the earthquake. Only a fraction of the required tents are in country or in the pipeline. The need for tents is especially urgent due to the upcoming rainy season, which begins in April. UN cluster partners continue to distribute items such as plastic sheeting, sleeping mats, kitchen kits, beds, hygiene kits, water bladders, jerry cans and water bottles to affected areas in Port-au- Prince. To avoid overlap by partners at distribution sites, the cluster is establishing a joint distribution plan between food and non-food items (NFI) clusters.

There are an estimated 1.8 million children and 5,000 - 8,000 schools have been affected by the earthquake. All schools remain closed, but schools in non-affected departments will reopen on February 1. A child protection sub-cluster continues rapid assessments in settlement sites, orphanages, and hospitals. Some 60 orphanages have been reached so far. The rapid registration of especially vulnerable unaccompanied children has started. UNICEF established three temporary shelters in Port-au-Prince with a capacity of accommodating 900 separated or unaccompanied children. Some 220 children are being supported with tracing/reunification, food, psychosocial support and medical assistance. Following continuous reports of children being released from hospitals without authorized caregivers, a procedure has been put in place with hospitals to contact UNICEF in case of discharge to one of UNICEF's temporary shelters.

Cash-for-work and cash-for-food programs are starting to be used to engage Haitians in the recovery effort and to help stimulate the local economy. 7,500 people have been hired already for initial activities such as rubble removal and road clearing. Normal activity has returned to some parts of Port-au-Prince and market-level commerce is increasing, including the resumption of banking services, the opening of supermarkets and availability of fuel at most gas stations. The Government has contracted various companies to distribute water throughout the capital. The Government is also focused on resuming the country's public administration (specifically through the resumption of the payroll and pension system).

A scoping mission for the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) will start on February 8. The team will include representatives from the EC, the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and UNDP. It is likely that the full PDNA will take place during the last two weeks of February. The assessment will be used to understand longer term recovery needs. The findings and recommendations of the PDNA will be presented at the donor conference being planned for late March in New York.

The multi-cluster rapid assessment is ongoing. The results will provide an overview of the population's status regarding health, nutrition, shelter, water and sanitation.

The movement of populations towards rural areas to the north and west of Port-au-Prince has slowed and has assessed the overall figure at 235,916 people, an increase of less than 1,000 over the past days. The largest influx, some 62,500 people, remains in Artibonite department. In response to these population movements, joint assessment teams (UNDAC/EU/CDC and US military) have been visiting cities in six departments, including North, North West, Centre, Artibonite, Grand Anse and Nippes. To date, the findings indicate that although people are traveling to these areas in large numbers, the majority are being accommodated by relatives or returning to family homes. Large-scale shelter support is unlikely to be needed. Instead, local officials in some departments have indicated a need for medical support, food, non-food aid and security. Medical teams are reported to be present in good numbers in Center department but more support is needed in the other departments. The assessment teams were also told of an increase in crime in some areas and the risk from escaped convicts.

International Urban Search and Rescue teams (USAR) are continuing their drawdown. A small number of USAR teams remain active to respond to requests for search activities from the population, and to assist the Government with expertise and heavy-lifting equipment for debris removal.

Haiti's Ministry of Health is revising its emergency response strategy and will gradually shift focus from emergency surgical cases to primary health care. Thousands of amputees will require physical therapy. There is a strong need to focus on post-operative care. Another priority concern is determining the medical needs of displaced populations in rural areas outside of Port-au-Prince. Estimates are that some 20,000 people are in need of medical assistance outside of PaP. At the community level, NGOs report that there is an increased concern about medication for chronic conditions. A large number of patients require second operations to follow up on amputations. In the coming weeks, some field hospitals will shut down. The International Red Cross/Red Crescent noted their willingness to "take-over" any facility donated or otherwise left behind, providing administrative oversight and placing the Haitian Red Cross in a position to assume control in the long term. Cases of tetanus have been reported as well as suspected cases of measles in Leogane, according to WHO/PAHO. A vaccination campaign for diphtheria and tetanus, DTT and measles will begin next week. Some 500 Haitian patients are being treated in nine hospitals in the Dominican Republic. The influx of patients requiring emergency care in these hospitals is declining.

The psychological impact of the disaster is becoming more apparent in the symptoms being seen at clinics; one, in Leogane, reported that approximately half of the people receiving treatment were suffering from mental trauma.

InterAction is reportedly deploying its Director of Disaster Response to Port-au-Prince this week to ensure better coordination between NGOs, the UN and the military by establishing an NGO Coordination Unit.

The Dominican Republic, along with the UN and humanitarian agencies, is improving coordination to ensure the quick transit of relief goods and personnel to Haiti. The port and airport at Barahona are fully operational. WFP has negotiated exemption from taxes at the airport on all incoming humanitarian goods for the next six months.

Overall security in Port-au-Prince remains stable but there have been isolated instances of looting and a recent incident where MINUSTAH troops fired warning shots and used tear gas. More and more police officers are reporting for duty, increasing capacity to an estimated 60-70 percent of pre-earthquake levels in Port-au-Prince.

Some 43,000 radios have been distributed to people in Port-au-Prince by the US as part of an overall effort to reach the people of regarding key health messages.

The USGS estimates a 90 percent probability of one or more earthquakes of magnitude 5 or greater. They advise taking these findings into account during the rebuilding effort.

The UN Flash Appeal is 48 percent funded. 12 clusters designated in the Flash Appeal are holding regular meetings to coordinate joint efforts. In addition, six clusters are being mobilized in the DR.

Monday, January 25, 2010

The Help Desk is continuing to work offers and calls with questions regarding tents, stoves, shipping, etc.

The Haiti Government has declared the search and rescue phase over. There were 132 live rescues by international urban search and rescue teams. At the peak of the response, there were 67 teams in Haiti consisting of 1,918 staff and 160 dogs.

Humanitarian relief efforts continue to scale up in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Leogane and other affected areas. More aid is reaching people as additional transportation and fuel are becoming available for relief operations. Ready-to-eat meals are needed for the short term to cover food needs. Water continues to be distributed daily at 115 sites in Port-au-Prince reaching an estimated 235,000 people. The UN plans to increase water distribution to reach 500,000 people daily with water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and services.

There are reports that roads are more congested as fuel becomes available, potentially slowing the delivery of relief items. According to the government, some 30 percent of gas stations are now operational. Traffic congestion is a major issue in Port-au-Prince, especially in the area of the airport.

As of January 23, the World Food Program (WFP) has distributed 2.1 million rations to 321,313 people. Some 207,392 people were in the Port-au-Prince area and an additional 113,313 people were in other affected areas. WFP has also reached 900 people in the departments that are now hosting displaced people. The government of Haiti is distributing food kits (staples, cooking gear) to 100,000-150,000 people a day. The main constraints in the UN Food Cluster are the number of people in need of assistance (estimates of up to 2 million people) and the consequent volume of food aid arriving in country. The fact that the airport is congested, the port is not fully operational, and that there is an increasing amount of traffic in town is slowing down operations. In addition, all partners involved in food distribution have to use military escorts and security at the distribution sites.

Haitian government confirms the death toll at 112,250 deaths and 194,000 injured from the devastating earthquake in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area alone, with many more thousands dead around the country or still buried under the rubble. Estimated deaths could reach 200,000. The final toll will clearly place the Haiti earthquake among the deadliest natural catastrophes of recent times. That list includes the 1970 Bangladesh cyclone, believed to have killed 300,000 people; the 1974 northeast China earthquake, which killed at least 242,000 people, and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, with 226,000 dead.

A lack of shelter and the overwhelming number of people with untreated injuries remains a concern. The Haitian government has accounted for some 609,000 people without shelter in the Port-au- Prince metropolitan area. These numbers remain preliminary while assessments continue. The number of people living in temporary shelter sites in the capital could be as high as 800,000. The UN estimates that combined in-country tent stocks and expected tent arrivals in the coming days constitute a total of 40,000 tents, capable of accommodating 200,000 individuals. The supply is unlikely to address the extensive shelter needs. Alternative shelter strategies are required, including support for host families and transitional shelter.

The number of people leaving Port-au-Prince is increasing daily. More than 235,000 people have taken advantage of the government's offer of free transportation and left Port-au-Prince to cities in the north and southwest. UN estimates that the number of people leaving cities for rural areas could reach one million, putting pressure on already vulnerable communities.

The number of injured people in need of surgical interventions is diminishing. There are 43 hospitals functioning in the Port-au-Prince area, 12 field hospitals (half of which are military hospitals) and two hospital ships. The World Health Organization reports that despite difficult conditions, there are no reported outbreaks of communicable diseases including cholera, measles and rubella.

There are 130-150 flights per day entering Port-au-Prince. The flow of aircraft is not expected to slow in the near future. Flights should be diverted to Santo Domingo if the cargo is not carrying life-saving items required within two or three days.

There are enough fuel supplies in country for the next two-three weeks until the port is likely rehabilitated to receive new supplies. Many of the ships arriving at the Port-au-Prince port are too large for current capacity. A barge system will have to be put in place. The port infrastructure is still weak.

All schools remain closed and there is no firm indication of when they will re-open. Estimates are that 90 percent of schools in Port-au-Prince and 60 percent of the schools in the South and West departments have been partially damaged or destroyed, affecting some 500,000 children age 5-14.

Friday, January 21, 2010

The Help Desk continuing to work offers for donations, services, tents, volunteers, and propane stoves with agency, business, and non-profit partners.

The Haitian Directorate for Civil Protection (DCP) has estimated that the earthquake resulted in 75,000 persons killed, 200,000 injured and one million displaced. Approximately half of all structures in Port-au- Prince are believed to have collapsed. (The European Commission is reporting the deaths at 200,000.)

Five hospitals have been assessed by the UN. The immediate priorities are to reinforce hospital staff and to tackle the medical waste problems. Assessments of hospital facilities will continue to look at hospital infrastructure, referral systems and the organization of transportation of patients. Haiti is procuring additional medical supplies to cope with demand, and will continue purchasing in the Dominican Republic to ensure rapid distribution. Flights are en route to Haiti, carrying medicines and supplies that can treat 165,000 people for one month, as well as drugs and equipment to treat 1,000 people with trauma injuries. Disease surveillance is ongoing and an early warning system is being established. Population displacement and overcrowding could increase the risk of transmission of communicable diseases. Damaged medical and sanitation systems, and a lack of safe drinking water, could lead to hygiene related and food borne diseases. Untreated trauma wounds and infection of wounds are major health concerns that need priority attention. Doctors Without Borders said that patients were dying of sepsis from untreated wounds and that some of the group's posts had 10- to 12-day backups of patients.

The World Food Program plans to transition to 60 days of general food distribution, initiating food-for-work activities when possible to rehabilitate streets and public buildings. In the coming month, WFP also expects improved access to affected neighborhoods, increased water tankering, and the provision of shelters and kitchen sets to support a transition to dry rations in some neighborhoods, and community kitchens in others.

As of January 19, there were 82 distribution sites for water, and 180 water trucks with a total capacity to provide water to 180,000 people. Water tanks are been erected in each zone of the city. However, water distribution was halted on January 19 due to a fuel shortage. UNICEF contracted a fuel provider on January 20 that has committed to providing 5,000 gallons of fuel on a daily basis.

The UN estimates that there are more than 300 makeshift settlements scattered throughout the city, with an estimated 370,000 people living under improvised shelter with no access to water supplies. Until tents can be provided, priority needs for those in these settlements include plastic sheeting, water containers, and water purification tablets.

Work has started at a site recently identified in the suburb of Croix des Bouquets for a temporary 30,000-person tented settlement which will facilitate aid delivery to a large number of displaced. The Inter-American Development Bank is planning to build permanent houses for 30,000 people at the same location. The Prime Minister confirmed the Government's intention of building temporary settlements. The Government reminded humanitarian partners of the upcoming rainy season which starts in April and expressed its wish to provide shelter to all displaced by that date.

Haiti government's free transport service for people wanting to leave Port-au-Prince remains active and many people are leaving affected areas. According to the UN Office in Les Cayes, populations are arriving in Grande Anse, Nippes, South, and South west departments. The provision of tents to these populations and the installation of more organized and structured transit centers is a priority.

There continues to be heavy congestion at the Port-au-Prince airport but about 150 planes are landing daily. Finding free slots for large aircraft is still a challenge. The UN is requesting that planned flights are announced well in advance, and unless the cargo is life-saving, to use the airport in Santo Domingo which has better capacity. The U.S. military will now station aid officials in the airport control tower to assess the contents of each flight, to prioritize landings and ease the flow of aid. The military also will provide security for UN relief teams, which had not been able to operate at night without protection.

Good news - Following repairs to the south pier of the port at Port-au-Prince, the first ship was able to land with 123 metric tons of goods. Many more ships are expected over the coming period. All vessels considering transit to Haiti should confirm that the facility they intend to visit can safely accommodate their arrival as some do not have certain functionality. Here are the options: The port at Gonaives is operational and has lifting capacity. Saint-Marc is also operational but has no lifting capacity. Miragoane and Jacmel ports can accept some cargo but the road to Port-au-Prince from both ports is likely to be blocked. Cap Haitien is fully functioning, but there is limited or no fuel available at the port. Port de Paix and Labadie ports are operational with minimal to no damage.

All requests for transport by US military assets are being coordinated through the UN's Logistics Cluster to ensure the most effective use of the available resources. Cargo movement request forms and temporary storage request forms are available on the Logistics Cluster website at http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a.

Electrical power was still out most places in Port-au-Prince, but traffic lights were functioning. Some banks, wire-transfer offices and a few stores reportedly were planning to reopen Thursday.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Help Desk still working the request for 10,000 propane stoves, immediate food/medical needs for another orphanage, and is working with the Salvation Army to respond.

A strong magnitude 6.1 aftershock struck Haiti. Its epicenter was 36 miles west-southwest of Port-au-Prince.

International Search & Rescue crews have saved more than 121people from the rubble, and continue to search for survivors six days after the earthquake. 11,000 U.S. military service members are now in Haiti or on ships nearby, and the military said Wednesday that it plans to send an additional 4,000 sailors and Marines.

Despite logistical and security constraints, the affected population is receiving an increasing number of relief supplies, including medical assistance, food, water and shelter. Priorities remain medical supplies, water and sanitation, tents, blankets, food and fuel and transport equipment. Aid has started reaching people in areas west of Carrefour and in Jacmel.

There is an increased risk of death as open wounds and fractures go untreated. WHO reports the number of communicable diseases in Haiti and along the border remains stable.

Fuel remains an issue. The World Food Program is planning to move 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day from the Dominican Republic. The WFP said it has distributed about 1 million food rations to 200,000 people around the capital - but that is just a tenth the number it hopes to reach.

The Haiti government has declared a month of national mourning until February 17, 2010.

The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort arrived off Haiti at midmorning Wednesday, carrying nearly 550 doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel. The ship will have six operating rooms available and can house up to 1,000 patients. They've already received their first wave of patients.

Aid is still being turned back from the single-runway airport, where the U.S. military has been criticized by some of poorly prioritizing flights. The U.S. Air Force said it had raised the facility's daily capacity from 30 flights before the quake to 180. The military will send a port-clearing ship with cranes aboard to Port-au-Prince to remove debris that is preventing many larger aid ships from docking.

The UN was sending in reinforcements as well: The Security Council voted Tuesday to add 2,000 peacekeepers to the 7,000 already in Haiti, and 1,500 more police to the 2,100-strong international force.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday unanimously passed legislation that would allow individuals who make charitable contributions to victims of the earthquake in Haiti to claim an itemized charitable deduction on their 2009 tax return instead of having to wait until next year to claim these deductions on their 2010 tax return. The legislation will not become law until it is passed by the Senate and signed by the president.

Monday, January 18, 2010

The Help Desk still working the request for 10,000 propane stoves, immediate food/medical needs for an orphanage, and is working with the Salvation Army who will be sending out a team first thing tomorrow to go and provide direct contact and assistance.

Search & Rescue crews have saved more than 75 people from the rubble, and continue to search for survivors six days after the earthquake. The military will have 7,000 personnel in Haiti on Monday working on earthquake relief. Military personnel have supplied 130,000 rations and 70,000 bottles of water as of today. The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and accompanying ships are arriving off Haiti today. The Marines bring with them heavy lift and earth-moving equipment, a dozen helicopters and additional medical support capabilities. The Port-au-Prince airport, which is being run by the U.S. military, is operating at maximum capacity 24 hours a day. It's trying to balance between getting relief supplies on the ground and getting the people on the ground that are necessary to get those relief supplies distributed. Also, they need to improve the logistical capacity on the ground to continue that, and the vehicles so they can get it out by ground as well as by air.

But help was still not reaching many victims of Tuesday's quake - choked back by transportation bottlenecks, bureaucratic confusion, fear of attacks on aid convoys, the collapse of local authority and the sheer scale of the need. People still struggled to find a cup of water or a handful of food. Looting spread to more parts of downtown Port-au-Prince as hundreds of young men and boys clambered up broken walls to break into shops and take whatever they can find. At a collapsed and burning shop in the market area, youths used broken bottles, machetes and razors to battle for bottles of rum and police fired shots to break up the crowd.

The State Department said 24 Americans are confirmed dead in the Haiti quake. About 25 other American deaths have been reported but not confirmed.

The Doctors Without Borders first plane with inflatable hospital was diverted to Dominican Republic, but their 2nd plane was able to land. Patients who were not critical only three days ago are now in critical phases. This means that people will die from preventable infections if untreated.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush kicked off a fundraising drive called the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

The Help Desk received a request from USAID for 5,000 to 10,000 propane stoves and that request is being circulated. Also, the Salvation Army is offering 750 (with more en route) of their pre-emergency workers in Haiti to help however needed, i.e., distribution, etc., not only in the immediate aftermath, but for the years to come with parallel sustainable objectives.

Three people have been rescued from a grocery store. Workers have made contact with a fourth and possibly a fifth person under the rubble and are working to reach them. International rescue teams continue to comb the disaster areas for more survivors. U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman said 1,739 rescue workers in 43 teams with 161 dogs and high-tech equipment so far have saved more than 70 people.

One doctor in the region tells CNN approximately 30 percent of patients in one hospital need immediate surgery within the next 24 hours, or they'll die. Doctors Without Borders reported that one of its cargo planes carrying an inflatable surgical hospital was blocked from landing in Port-au-Prince. They landed in the Dominican Republic, which delayed the hospital set-up 24 hours. Another one of their planes will be coming in tomorrow, and if it is delayed it will further impact the set up of the hospital and their ability to help the injured.

The World Food Programme says it reached 40,000 people in and around Port-au-Prince with high-energy biscuits. The organization says its goal is to reach another 60,000 people on Sunday and hopes to feed 2 million within a month. Convoys and shipments carrying ready-to-eat foods continue to arrive.

The Haitian government has established 14 distribution points for food and other supplies, and U.S. Army helicopters scouted locations for more. Aid groups opened five emergency health centers. Vital gear, such as water-purification units, was arriving from abroad.

On a hillside golf course, perhaps 50,000 people were sleeping in a makeshift tent city overlooking the stricken capital and paratroopers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division flew in to set up a base for handing out water and food.

There are roughly 1,000 American military personnel on the ground, with another approximately 3,600 providing support from the USS Carl Vinson and other naval vessels offshore. The U.S. Army is sending more than 7,000 soldiers into Haiti to help with the relief effort. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is already docked offshore, but its helicopters are having trouble finding places to land.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Help Desk has been working on fuel and shelter needs for a Haiti telecommunications company trying to keep cell service running in the country and with potential donors, suppliers, and partners. Also, working with the Salvation Army and their coordination center on their needs for personnel and on the ground requests from their World Office.

Day 5 after the earthquake has been focused on the relief effort, and special rescue. Aid is getting out into the capital, such as food and water, but slowly. It is picking up. Medical aid is still in short supply due to the large number of injuries, especially injuries with any open wounds that, without antibiotics, can and are becoming infected. Finally, they are dealing with the large number of deceased. Most survivors are still sleeping on the streets, in parks, etc., in make-shift tents to protect them from the sun. Shelter is another significant need.

Death toll is now expected to be closer to 100,000. More relief agencies have been arriving over the last 24 hours and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured Haiti today to share with Haitians the U.S. commitment to support earthquake relief and recovery

The top two UN diplomats stationed in Haiti were officially declared dead. A UN humanitarian spokeswoman declared the quake the worst disaster the international organization has ever faced, since so much government and UN capacity in the country was demolished. In that way, it's worse than the cataclysmic Asian tsunami of 2004 because "Everything is damaged."

Friday, January 15, 2010 - 2:27 p.m.

Currently the Help Desk is connecting 10 donated water systems to potential partners, and is working through a needs-list from the Salvation Army which has hundreds of people on the ground in Haiti ready to distribute supplies.

The USS Carl Vinson arrived in Haiti and has a significant capacity to deliver disaster-relief supplies, with 19 helicopters, 51 hospital beds, three operating rooms and the ability to produce hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per day.

Within four days, 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne will be in the quake zone. By next Tuesday, three more ships carrying 2,200 Marines and heavy equipment will join them. By Saturday, about 5,000 to 6,000 men and women dedicated to supporting the relief effort will be in Haiti.

Later next week, the USNS Comfort, a hospital ship with a crew of 64 and 560 hospital personnel, will arrive.

Despite relative calm, there were reports of sporadic looting and violence as foreign aid, food and water have been slow to arrive if at all.

Friday, January 15, 2010 - 10:52 a.m.

We've been gathering and sharing information such as how to find missing family members, where to donate, offers for assistance, etc., and late last night were working with an NGO who was working to get satellite phones to the President of Haiti along with other equipment. The military is going to bring in their needed supplies now, and they will let us know if they need anything else. Also, on the phone with the Salvation Army right now.

Airport was damaged in the quake, including the loss of the tower. Now opened on a limited basis, only one runway is open. And the airport was quickly filled by planes. They had no equipment so were unloading by hand until the military arrived and gave equipment for this purpose. The US Air Force is taking over the airport and a replacement tower was created. They are trying to make sure planes flying into the airport arrive with enough fuel to fly out. The airport, which is crucial for quick delivery of aid, is having refueling difficulties: At one point Thursday, 44 planes were parked at the airport, but only two fuel trucks were available to refuel the planes. Gas has been in very short supply.

The FAA is again giving takeoff clearances for U.S. planes bound for Haiti with relief workers and supplies, but it is cautioning that planes have been in holding patterns off Haiti for more than 3 hours. The FAA stopped giving clearances yesterday because the small airport was packed.

The port is closed and 3 ships were unable to dock filled with medical supplies, food, clothing and water. This will not be an easy fix as the road around the port and near the crane for unloading was uplifted 5 feet, but half of the crane itself is in the water. These cranes need FLAT ground to function. The port will be closed for some time.

The challenge is that it is taking too long to get the supplies from the airport to the people due to damage debris, road conditions, challenges at the airport, etc. The issue with delivery of goods is obviously logistics. It is problematic to get the streets clear. There was a mile-long line to get gasoline.

USS Carl Vinson should be arriving today with 11 operating rooms,19 helicopters and 30 pallets of relief goods. 72 hours is the critical time when those injured, especially without medical treatment/medication, will die. Crush injuries that go untreated are very life-threatening. Also, people can survive without food but they need water. Without it, the kidneys begin to shut down. Antibiotics are needed to treat injuries to prevent infection.

While the aid workers are arriving and that is great, on this third day there are serious issues with individuals' heath. Donations continue and this will help with proper supplies reaching those in need. Others are evacuating the area, but are unable to leave the airport due to the logistical mess of departing flights, too.

Thursday, January 14 - 11:27 a.m.

The Help Desk has received/returned 36 calls and emails. One call today that I'm waiting to receive an email on is a list of medical equipment and emergency supplies to be donated, so I can circulate to non-profits that will be using donations to buy equipment, but can put those funds into other needs.

As the response has continued, officials fear the numbers of fatalities will be high as a result of Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti. Some agencies are projecting death tolls range from 30,000 to 100,000 - but the true toll is not yet known. Some of the hospitals have collapsed, so they need some hospital facilities, medicine and some doctors. Per CNN - In some neighborhoods, people have been piling bodies in the streets, because there is nowhere to take them.

A communication breakdown has left people in limbo around the globe with those outside Haiti not knowing whether loved ones there survived a major earthquake, and those in Haiti unable to get word out that they're safe. With few phone calls going through in the aftermath of the quake, people were driven to texting, social networking sites and other online communication.

Aid groups scrambled to help. None of the three aid centers run by Doctors Without Borders is operable, and the organization is focusing on re-establishing surgical capacity so it can deal with the crushed limbs and head wounds it is seeing.

Authorities bracing for civil disturbances.

The disaster cut power, electricity and other utilities. This could leave people without clean drinking water and at greater risk of malnutrition and disease. The potential new mass of displaced persons could create crowded, unsanitary conditions that facilitate the spread of contagious respiratory infections - What you have is a breakdown. It is already a fragile infrastructure with high rates of infectious and neglected tropical disease. Now there are potential breakdowns in sanitation, clean water, housing and subsequent crowding. That's a terrible mix.

The US is sending in military personnel and assets to provide earthquake relief in the form of security, search and rescue, and the delivery of humanitarian supplies. They will be reinforcing the airport to allow for 24-hour deliveries of supplies, equipment, and people. The Coast Guard is already on the ground.

The International Red Cross said it is deploying stocks of non-food relief items to 10,000 families, and additional staff will be deployed as soon as possible.

The Red Cross estimates about 3 million people -- one-third of Haiti's population -- were affected by the quake.

Wednesday, January 13 - 7:30 a.m.

We've already received calls to the Help Desk with offers to assist in debris removal. We are working to get them connected with the correct agencies.

The powerful earthquake that rocked Haiti damaged much of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, as the widespread devastation in the country's teeming capital came into full view Wednesday as dawn broke. The First Lady of Haiti is calling for some help in the form of a hospital ship off the coast of Port-au-Prince, just in the same way that the United States had helped them in 2008 after four hurricanes hit Haiti in three weeks.

The United States was the first to offer help after the 7.0-magnitude quake hit Haiti shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday and was centered about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince. At least 28 aftershocks of magnitude of 4.0 or greater rumbled across the country. The quake was centered about 6 miles underground, a depth that can produce severe shaking, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A huge plume of dust and smoke rose up over the city within minutes of the quake - a blanket that completely covered the city and obscured it for about 20 minutes until the atmosphere dissipated the dust. It could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away.

State Department reported that the airport was in good enough shape for the United States to start sending teams and assistance Wednesday. The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) planned to send a plane with 87 metric tons of high-energy biscuits. That's enough to feed 30,000 people for a week. The agency regularly feeds more than 1 million people in Haiti and has food stored in warehouses. The WFP feared looting because people are desperate. President Obama said the U.S. government would "stand ready to assist the people of Haiti." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that Washington is offering "our full assistance" to Haiti.

While there was no clear estimate of the dead and wounded early Wednesday, the U.S. State Department had been told to expect a profound loss of life. After the quake, wounded people, white with dust, filled the streets, desperate to find help.

The quake's destruction included the U.N. peacekeeper compound, a five-story building where about 250 people work every day. The U.N. Haitian mission chief and the agency's deputy special representative are unaccounted for.

US Aid teams were working in a coordinated and aggressive way all night to make sure the U.S. mounts an effective response in supporting saving lives, which is the president's absolute top priority for this first period of 72 hours when they can search and save as many lives as possible.

Limited communications hampered reporting of casualties and destruction. But the quake had reportedly brought down The Hotel Montana, popular with foreigners visiting Port-au-Prince, including approximately 200 French tourists staying there. Communication with people in Haiti was, at best, sketchy and achieved mainly through social networking sites such as Twitter and YouTube and via Internet phone.

Night fell a few hours after the earthquake reduced buildings as grand as the National Palace to rubble and knocked down phone and power lines.

Several witnesses reported heavy damage and bodies in the streets of the congested capital, where concrete-block homes line the steep hillsides leading inland from the city's waterfront. Many of the concrete-block homes in Port-au-Prince are built "helter-skelter all over the place," and due to their construction is a recipe for disaster when an earthquake strikes.

Teams from Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières, on the ground said they witnessed significant damage to the organization's medical facilities, injuries to patients and staff, and an influx of wounded toward hospitals in the capital. MSF said its Trinité trauma center hospital, a 60-bed structure and one of the only free-of-charge surgical facilities in Port-au-Prince, was seriously damaged by the quake.

The International Federation of the Red Cross estimated that 3 million people were affected by the earthquake.

The disaster is the latest to befall the Caribbean country, roughly the size of Maryland, which is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere and among the poorest in the world. Port-au-Prince was particularly at risk because it grew rapidly from a population of about 250,000 in the mid-1950s to more than 2 million today, all with little oversight.

Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. Buildings shook in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, but no major damage was reported there.

Tuesday, January 12 - 7:08 p.m. (Initial Report)

A 7.0M earthquake struck southern Haiti today at 5 p.m. on the island, knocking down buildings and power lines. CNN quoted the ambassador to the US as saying it is a "catastrophe for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation." Witnesses reported heavy damage throughout the capital, Port-au-Prince, including to the president's residence and century-old homes nearby. The Associated Press reported that a hospital collapsed. Currently, there is no estimate of the dead and wounded. Eighty percent of Haiti's population lives under the poverty line.

This major quake struck about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince shortly before 5 p.m. was centered about 6 miles underground, according to the USGS. A magnitude 5.9 aftershock followed soon afterward, about 30 miles further west, followed by a 5.5 aftershock closer to the location of the first quake. (Only 6 miles underground is VERY shallow which means that at the surface they are feeling almost the full force of the 7.0 earthquake, so it is very damaging!)

Many of the homes in Port-au-Prince are concrete-block structures built on steep hillsides. With the sun setting they wouldn't know how much structural damage until tomorrow morning. Because of the earthquake's proximity to the capital, and because the city is densely populated and has poorly constructed housing, there are great concerns about damage causing significant casualties.

A tsunami watch for Haiti, the Dominican Republic and parts of Cuba following the earthquake has been canceled. US Search & Rescue Teams are being put together potentially from LA and other regions.

FYI: per CNN, Haiti's government is backed by a U.N. peacekeeping mission established after the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. Efforts to contact the U.N. mission were unsuccessful Tuesday evening, but former President Clinton - now the U.N. special envoy for Haiti - said the world body was "committed to do whatever we can to assist the people of Haiti in their relief, rebuilding and recovery efforts."

Tuesday's quake was felt in the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, and some panicked residents in the capital of Santo Domingo fled from their shaking homes. But no major damage was reported there as of yet. In eastern Cuba, houses shook but there were also no reports of significant damage so far.