Haiti president describes `unimaginable' catastrophe; thousands feared dead

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.

As the scope of the damage was becoming clear Wednesday, some Haitians were crossing the border into the Dominican Republic.

``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.

The U.N. said Haiti's principal prison had collapsed 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 was also 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 ruins of his office, the Associated Press reported.

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.

According to media reports, survivors were digging through the rubble and stacking bodies along the streets of Haiti's capital after the powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the island nation Tuesday afternoon. The earthquake has left the nation virtually isolated, with countless crumbled buildings, including the six-story United Nations headquarters.

The U.N. confirmed five of its workers had been killed and more than 100 were missing. Among those unaccounted for were the mission chief, Hédi Annabi, and his deputy, the U.N. said Wednesday.

Brazil's army said at least 11 of its peacekeepers were killed, while Jordan's official news agency said three of its peacekeepers were killed, the AP reported.

Préval said he has not slept since the earthquake. Others slept in the streets fearing their homes would be toppled by aftershocks.

``This is a catastrophe,'' the first lady, Elisabeth Préval, said. ``I'm stepping over dead bodies. A lot of people are buried under buildings. The general hospital has collapsed. We need support. We need help. We need engineers.''

While official details about the scope of the damage were scarce, eyewitness accounts and media reports painted a picture of widespread destruction that could leave thousands dead.

A hospital was reported to have collapsed and people were heard screaming for help, and the World Bank offices in Petionville were also destroyed, but most of the staff were safely accounted for, the organization said.

Part of the road to Canape Vert, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, has collapsed, along with houses perched in the mountains of Petionville, where the quake was centered. Petionville is a suburb about 10 miles from downtown Port-au-Prince.

As the damage mounted, Florida Republican Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen pressed Obama for immediate humanitarian aid for Haiti and renewed their request for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals residing in the United States.

``Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti tonight as emergency responders work to ensure the safety of their citizens. It is important that the U.S. make available all possible humanitarian assistance to our friend and neighbor, Haiti,'' Lincoln Diaz-Balart said.

And Ros-Lehtinen called for the U.S. to immediately stop deporting Haitian nationals ``due to the crisis in this already devastated country.''

Broward Democrat Alcee Hastings added his name to the effort, calling it ``not only immoral, but irresponsible'' not to do so.

On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said the organization had released $10 million in ``emergency funds'' to set up immediate operations. He said Assistant Secretary General Eduard Moulet would be dispatched to the region as soon as conditions permit.

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said the OAS ``will do everything within our means to support the victims of this catastrophic phenomenon.'' He said Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin was gathering damage information to report to the group's Permanent Council Wednesday to allow member states to contribute to Haiti.

``It is at such times that people, governments and leaders across the hemisphere, as neighbors and friends of the people of Haiti, should show solidarity and support in a real, effective and immediate manner, guided by the country's government, which knows best where the most urgent need lies,'' Insulza said.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democrat who represents parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, said: ``I am monitoring the situation very closely and am prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives and bring swift disaster relief to Haiti and the Haitian people at this time. I ask that all Americans please keep the Haitian people and all victims of this disaster in their thoughts and prayers.''

From Broward, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, who was in Haiti in June, said she was ``deeply saddened'' by the news.

``I know only too well how much this earthquake will add to the already immense obstacles facing the Haitian people,'' she said, adding that she would work with colleagues in Congress and the Obama administration to provide aid to Haiti.

The American Red Cross was poised to move aid from a warehouse in Panama -- blankets, kitchen sets and water containers for about 5,000 families -- as soon as a flight or means of delivery could be found, Eric Porterfield said in Washington.

Field reports, he said, indicated ``lots of damage and lots of aftershocks.''

In addition, the American Red Cross had already released $200,000 to its counterpart Haitian Red Cross.

On Wednesday, Haitian Sen. Joseph Lambert also described the scene in Haiti. Standing outside the Parliament building, he said: ``Imagine schools, hospitals, government buildings all destroyed.''

When asked about the prospect of Haiti rebuilding, Lambert said, ``It's our country. We have no other choice. It's a catastrophe, but we have no other choice but to rebuild.''

01.13.10

miamiherald


Miami Herald staff writers Nancy San Martin, Lesley Clark, Trenton Daniel, Frances Robles, Martha Brannigan, Jim Wyss, Robert Samuels, Nadege Charles, Mary Ellen Klas and Herald special correspondent Stewart Stogel contributed to this report, which was supplemented by wire services.

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