Haiti "Over All Fairly Calm" (Also Horrible)
"So far, violence has been scattered, with the security situation over all fairly calm," reports the Times team from Haiti last night, noting also that people are fleeing to the countryside left and right. But never by boat! Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Christopher O'Neil tells the paper that "anyone caught leaving the island and heading toward Florida would be returned to Haiti." But what if they are, you know, heading towards Jamaica, or Cuba? Or East Caicos! Or, even, you know, the other way-towards Puerto Rico? And: "Haiti's ambassador in Washington, Raymond Joseph, recorded a message in Creole to his countrymen, urging them not to leave. 'If you think you will reach the U.S. and all the doors will be wide open to you, that's not at all the case.'" Sorry, everyone. It's pretty much just you guys and Anderson Cooper now.
I am not sure anybody has ever voluntarily gone to Puerto Rico, Choire. Just sayin.
BTW, I think this picture finally proves the old adage about teh geighs coming after our children…
Not to undermine the incredibly heroic and superhuman thing Cooper did here, but it's noteworthy that this "injured boy" was (in all likelihood) classified as a "looter" until he got hit with a rock and suddenly became "injured boy."
But we can agree in both cases he could still be classified as 'kid.'
"scamp?"
Except for the blood and choas, I am very jealous of that boy.
So meanwhile, the hospital my family is involved with ran completely out of antibiotics on Saturday and couldnt get any resupply because the airport was too busy bringing american troops and their supplies into the country. Another organisation promised to help us out, but it "slipped off the radar" and we lost several post-surgery patients to sepsis. Our relieving doctors were stalled for days in the Miami airport before arriving over land from the D.R.
We can also corroborate the reports of large numbers of refugees moving into the countryside. The Hospital is located about 40 miles north of Port Au Prince and the road from the capital is crowded. We are bracing for the impact of a long-term rise in population in our vincinity.
This is about what I've hear from Jacmel and Gressier. The resupply flight intended for Gressier was diverted to the DR as PauP runway was overloaded. They've lost a few people there as well. One coast guard helicopter landed with a few supplies but I think they used them up quickly. I've been updating my original post in the comments with some really horrific images:
http://www.theawl.com/2010/01/a-message-from-gressier-haiti-this-morning-the-second-parking-lot-baby-was-born
My heart goes out to the people in Gressier. For them to be on their feet and helping patients so soon after the damage they sustained is remarkable.
There was a guy on the CBC this morning saying exactly this – that the PaP airport was completely saturated by the US military bringing their war machinery into Haiti so that actual aid flights were all being diverted. What must the Haitians think, seeing all these guys flooding into their country in full battle regalia and machine guns as if it's Mogadishu, when what they are still waiting for is water, food and medical supplies, and heavy moving equipment? Not fully-armed combat brigades.
The soft bigotry of low expectations, I guess.
http://www.slate.com/id/2242078/pagenum/all/#p2