Haiti Earthquake Survivors Being Moved Out of Country… 400,000 of Them to Be Relocated
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 22, 2010
From Montreal La Presse: A man rescues a child from the debris of a building in Haiti
Action is finally being taken to help the earthquake survivors in Haiti leave the death and destruction surrounding them. Approximately 400,000 people will be moved out of the devastated capital city.
From AOL, Haiti to Move 400,000 Quake Survivors Out of Capital:
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Jan. 21) – Within days, the government will move 400,000 people made homeless by Haiti’s epic earthquake from their squalid improvised camps throughout the shattered capital to new resettlement areas on the outskirts, a top Haitian official said Thursday.
Authorities are worried about sanitation and disease outbreaks in makeshift settlements like the one on the city’s central Champs de Mars plaza, said Fritz Longchamp, chief of staff to President Rene Preval.
“The Champ de Mars is no place for 1,000 or 10,000 people,” Longchamp told The Associated Press. “They are going to be going to places where they will have at least some adequate facilities.”
He said buses would start moving the displaced people within a week to 10 days, once new camps are ready. Brazilian U.N. peacekeepers were already leveling land in the suburb of Croix des Bouquets for a new tent city, the Geneva-based intergovernmental International Organization for Migration reported Thursday.
The hundreds of thousands whose homes were destroyed in the Jan. 12 quake had settled in more than 200 open spaces around the city, the lucky ones securing tents for their families, but most having to make do living under the tropical sun on blankets, on plastic sheets or under tarpaulins strung between tree limbs.
The announcement came as search-and-rescue teams packed their dogs and gear Thursday, with hopes almost gone of finding any more alive in the ruins. The focus shifted to keeping injured survivors alive, fending off epidemics and getting help to the hundreds of homeless still suffering.
“We’re so, so hungry,” said Felicie Colin, 77, lying outside the ruins of her Port-au-Prince nursing home with dozens of other elderly residents who have hardly eaten since the earthquake hit on Jan. 12.
From Wall Street Journal, Pennsylvania Allies Help Dozens of Orphans Make It to America:
PITTSBURGH — Dozens of Haitian orphans, accompanied by a team of medical personnel, arrived in Pittsburgh Tuesday, after a complex rescue mission that involved a military cargo plane, several federal agencies and some last-minute help from the White House.
The 53 children, ranging from 11 months old to age 12, were among 148 orphans at the Brébis de Saint-Michel de L’Attalaye orphanage in Port-au-Prince. Two Pittsburgh natives, 22-year-old Ali McMutrie and her 30-year-old sister, Jamie McMutrie Heckman, who have worked at the Haitian orphanage for several years, kicked off the rescue by tapping area family and friends and requesting help from Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire.
Ali McMutrie, accompanied the children on the flight back. Her sister stayed behind to locate a missing two-year-old child, both of whom were expected to arrive later Tuesday.
The children, the smallest carried in blankets by volunteers, were taken by three buses for evaluation and treatment to the Children’s Hospital, part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center health system. Officials at the hospital said none of the children were suffering from serious medical conditions.
As I have written before, to make a donation to help Haiti, please go to the Red Cross website or Pan American Relief. Jewish United Fund is actively helping, and 100% of all donations will go to aid the Haitian victims; no money will be taken out for administrative costs.
A tremendous amount of updated aid/relief information is provided at The Anchoress, Relief Efforts for Haiti – UPDATED.
Related writings with photos, aid information, and earthquake reports:
GayPatriot: Haiti Earthquake: How to Help
The Anchoress: Notes from Haiti’s Children – UPDATE
Vets On The Watch: Haiti – A BAD Proposal
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Haiti Child’s Rescue a Miracle, NYPD Dogs to Aid in Rescues, Death Count Mounts in Haiti (video) and Earthquake Aftermath: In Florida’s Little Haiti, Poor Communication & Lack of News of Loved Ones in Haiti Brings Anguish & Fears and Haiti’s Horrific Earthquake: Video Photo Essay, Aid Efforts, Obama Press Conference, and How to Donate Via the Red Cross (video)
Mcnorman’s Weblog: Inflatable Hospital For Haiti and Haiti Earthquake Relief – Our Response and Many Casualties Expected in Haiti…Pictures Updated
Patterico’s Pontifications: 150-200K Deaths in Haiti
Eric Haymes, Big Hollywood: Urgent Appeal — Please Help Us to Help the People of Haiti!
Val Prieto, Babalú, an island on the net without a bearded dictator: HAITI DISASTER RELIEF
John Nolte, Big Hollywood: Earthquake Relief: ‘Hollywood Unites For Haiti’
First Thoughts: How to Help Haiti
Gateway Pundit: 6.1 Aftershock Hits Haiti — Rubicon Rescue Updates
Nice Deb: Earthquake Damage In Haiti: “Shattered”, “Horrifying”, “Biblical”, “Utter Devastation”
Instapundit: MORE ON RELIEF EFFORTS FOR HAITI, where things seem to be looking worse the more news filters out.
Tarpon’s Swamp: Haitians Need Our Help
Michelle Malkin: Haiti: How to help
Temple of Mut: Science News: 7.0 Earthquake Hits Haiti; Destruction and Deaths reported.
America’s North Shore Journal: Haiti earthquake aid
The Divine Lamp: Prayers, Donations for Haiti
Le Combat: Essential Info on How to Help in Haiti
Inside Catholic: Archbishop of Port-au-Prince among dead in earthquake
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