Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Desperate Haitians Await Aid Following Quake

   VOA News 15 January 2010
   Victims in a Port-au-Prince park

Photo: AP

   Earthquake  survivors  a  a public park in downtown Port-au-Prince, 14
   Jan 2010

   Desperate  Haitians  have  spent  a  third night in the streets of the
   capital,  Port-au-Prince,  waiting  for  promised  aid  that is slowly
   trickling in following Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
   The  aircraft  carrier USS Carl Vinson was expected to drop anchor off
   the  Haiti  coast  Friday  where it will serve as floating airport for
   helicopters carrying rescue teams and supplies.
   Troops  and  planeloads  of  desperately needed food and medicine from
   many countries began slowly arriving in Haiti Thursday after the worst
   earthquake  in  200 years reduced the capital city to rubble.  The aid
   flights, however, have swamped the main airport.

   Aid  agency  officials  and  workers  say  looting  of  food and other
   supplies  has  become  an  increasing  problem  as  people become more
   desperate.
   Red  Cross officials estimate that 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed
   in  Tuesday's  7.0  magnitude  earthquake,  which  flattened homes and
   government buildings, burying countless numbers of people.
   Bulldozers  helped  move  some of the rubble, while some Haitians have
   been using bare hands to try to free those trapped in the debris.
   Sheet-draped recovered bodies lay rotting in the tropical heat
   Meanwhile,  former  Haitian  President  Former  Jean-Bertrand Ariside,
   exiled in South Africa since 2004, told reporters in Johannesburg that
   is he ready to return to Haiti to help rebuild the country.
   On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama  promised $100 million in new
   aid  to  support Haiti's recovery, adding that the relief effort under
   way will be one of the largest in recent U.S. history
   Planes  carrying  workers  and supplies from the United States, Spain,
   China,  Russia  and  other  countries  have  arrived,  while many more
   countries have promised aid.
   Roads  are  blocked,  and  water,  electricity  and telecommunications
   services  have  been  severely disrupted, complicating relief efforts.
   But,  the  VOA  correspondent in the area says people are sharing what
   they have and hoping the situation will improve.
   The  headquarters of the United Nations mission in Haiti was among the
   buildings  that  collapsed as the ground shook Tuesday.  The U.N. says
   at  least  36  of  its  personnel  were  killed, while some 150 remain
   unaccounted  for,  including  the head of the U.N. mission there, Hedi
   Annabi.
   U.N.  Secretary-General  Ban  Ki-moon says the needs in Haiti are huge
   and  immediate  -  above  all,  medical  supplies, food, water, tents,
   shovels  and  heavy equipment.  But he said that overall, security and
   public  order  are  being  maintained,  and that U.N. peacekeepers are
   continuing to patrol and help the humanitarian effort.
   Of   the  9,000  U.N.  peacekeepers  in  Haiti,  the  3,000  based  in
   Port-au-Prince are clearing roads to assist search and rescue teams.
   Officials estimate that as many as three million people - one third of
   Haiti's population, may have been affected by the quake.  Donations to
   aid  organizations  are  pouring  in, and the Red Cross has pledged $1
   million to support relief operations.
   Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

.