In the spirit of some levity for a tense and disastrous situation....
Posted on 01/14/2010 3:00:32 PM PST by NCjim
Desperate Haitians turned rubble-strewn streets and parks into makeshift hospitals and refugee camps on Thursday in the absence of any noticeable response from authorities in Haiti after Tuesday's earthquake.
With the 7.0 magnitude earthquake collapsing the presidential palace, a string of ministries and the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, Haiti faces a dangerous vacuum in security and government.
The Caribbean nation of 9 million people, the poorest in the western hemisphere, has a turbulent history of conflict, social turmoil, dictatorship, fragile institutions and devastating natural catastrophes.
Many in the capital Port-au-Prince picked away at shattered buildings with bare hands, sticks and hammers hoping to find loved-ones alive. Thousands of homeless people began to set up their own camps anywhere they could, the biggest right opposite the collapsed presidential palace.
"Look at us. Who is helping us? Right now, nobody," said Jean Malesta, a 19-year-old student who was the only survivor when her apartment building collapsed from the powerful quake that has killed thousands, possibly tens of thousands.
She and a dozen others lay under a tent they had set up in the park opposite President Rene Preval's palace. His weak and under-resourced government appears totally unequipped to handle the crisis, its officials in disarray and nowhere to be seen.
'WE ARE ON OUR OWN'
"So far, they have brought us nothing. We need water, food, shelter, everything, but we are on our own," Malesta added, to cries of agreement from women sitting and lying around her.
A major international aid effort has not yet kicked in, although plenty of small groups, many from the United States, have scrambled quickly, moving personnel into Haiti by plane and overland from neighboring Dominican Republic.
"The problem is that unlike traditional disaster situations we have few local partners to work with, because most of them have had their buildings destroyed and are looking for their own dead and missing," said Margaret Aguirre, a senior official with International Medical Corps.
Haitians are doing their best to survive chaotic conditions in the absence of any clear leadership, said Latin America expert Dan Erikson of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank.
"The sad truth is that no one is in charge of Haiti today. This vacuum, coupled with the robust response from the Obama administration, has inevitably created a situation where the U.S. will be the de facto decision-maker in Haiti."
Even President Rene Preval lost his home. "My palace collapsed. ... I can't live in the palace, I can't live in my own house," he told CNN on Wednesday.
The 9,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force, which might have been able to step into the void, has been left counting its own dead after its headquarters were destroyed in the quake.
The United Nations said 36 of its personnel in Haiti had been killed and many more were still missing.
Peacekeepers occasionally patrolled the city in buses and trucks and have mobilized some heavy earth-moving equipment but the blue-helmet soldiers have largely stayed off the streets.
Underlying the growing sense of chaos and abandonment around the half-destroyed coastal capital Port-au-Prince, some looting began -- a phenomenon Haitians have seen many times before in past political crises.
At one crushed supermarket, young men calmly carried off bags of food and electronics without a policemen in sight.
Pickup trucks stacked high with bodies could be seen making their way through traffic-clogged streets on Thursday morning, on their way to drop off the dead at the morgue attached to Hospital General, the city's main health facility.
But Guy LaRoche, the hospital's director, said it was already filled to overflowing with more than 1,500 rapidly decomposing bodies. Many had been left lying out in the sun. LaRoche said he had had no contact with any government officials to see what to do with them.
LOOMING HEALTH THREAT
"I'm awaiting the decision of the government. What else can I do?" he said. "The health threat, from disease, could be another catastrophe. We need nurses, medical teams, more of everything."
Around the city, many Haitians put rags and masks over their faces as the stench from rotting bodies began to rise. Crushed cars and vans stuck out of collapsed buildings, while children's toys, shoes and papers were scattered on streets.
In poor areas, there was little sign of any coordinated rescue activities.
"I think 50 percent of the city is destroyed," said Vladimir Rousseau, a 32-year-old diesel engineer, in the hard-hit Carrefour district.
Reuters witnesses saw some city blocks completely leveled, though in other areas the damage was more patchy.
In the upscale, hilltop Petionville sector, a Chilean contingent of U.N. peacekeepers -- many of whom arrived only last week and looked stunned at events -- were helping excavate rubble at the landmark Hotel Montana, which collapsed.
They said they had pulled out 14 people alive already, foreign customers and local workers alike, and thought there were dozens more underneath the stones.
"There is no one in our country capable of sorting this out. Everyone is looking after their own families. Only the world can come to our rescue," said shop owner Edner Baptiste.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pledging U.S. help for Haiti's crippled government, said: "The authorities that existed before the earthquake are not able to fully function."
“’WE ARE ON OUR OWN’”
It’s called demanding Independence. They’ve had it for 200 years. Stop complaining. They already get 40% of their govt budget through foreign aid.
Haiti has always been like this and always be like this. Ditto Somalia, Afghanistan and a few others.
“’WE ARE ON OUR OWN’”
It’s called Independence. They’ve had it for 200 years. Stop complaining. They already get 40% of their govt budget through foreign aid.
The UN has been there for a good decade.
Maybe this is the sort of disaster that will make the
Haitian people come together and realize they are the
ones to build their own government. One can hope or
one can build. Take your choice.
Very, very sad......MAYBE, just maybe something good will come out of this....maybe, just maybe they will learn to rely more on themselves and their friends, relatives and neighbors than some dictator.
Haiti has just become the de-facto 58th state.
The US Army needs to impose martial law and shoot first policy for looters and thugs. I bet the vast majority of Haitains would approve.
>>Haiti has always been like this and always be like this. Ditto Somalia, Afghanistan and a few others.<<
I hate using the word “always” in these situations, but I think that word may best fit, assuming always means “until Christ returns”.
>>I saw the looting in Haiti on Fox News and it wasn’t food and water being stolen, it was electronics and booze.<<
In a situation like this, hard liquor is as valuable as money. Maybe more valuable. More like gold.
>>The UN has been there for a good decade.<<
They’re licking their own wounds right now, too.
And there you have it, in one simple statement. The whole leftist mentality and intended consequence, boiled down into one condensed admission.
"Don't let a good crisis go to waste" Rhambo.....
Oy..../tin foil hat
The sad irony is that many of the Haitians of power, influence and relative wealth who are counted on to keep order are probably dead inside their homes and offices. Most of the survivors are probably shanty town residents and homeless street people.
One good thing I saw here, though, was people making decisions and doing what needed to be done, without waiting for Mr Big Government to tell you what to do.
In the spirit of some levity for a tense and disastrous situation....
“I saw the looting in Haiti on Fox News and it wasn’t food and water being stolen, it was electronics and booze.”
Hmmmmm. Looks like they have a bit in common with their
“Voodo Bro’s” in New Orleans.
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