Haiti Earthquake: Breaking News, Updates (VIDEO)

[Lisa Wolfe]

Haiti Earthquake: Breaking News, Updates (VIDEO)

Huffington Post   |  Nicholas Sabloff First Posted: 01-13-10 10:24 AM   |   Updated: 01-13-10 05:42 PM

Updates from Haiti below -- Follow the latest breaking news via our Haiti Twitter list -- See the latest images here -- Read the latest from the AP here -- Find out how you can help here.

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5:37 PM ET: Bodies piled on the streets -- Many of the news headlines today have touched upon this gruesome fact in the wake of the devastation, which the photo below helps capture:

[Lisa Wolfe]

We also posted earlier today on the striking before and after images of Haiti's Presidential Palace, but this close-up photo does an even better job than the previous image of detailing the level of destruction:

[Lisa Wolfe]

 5:31 PM ET: Raw footage from right after the earthquake -- For those who may have missed this the first time around, here is footage via AP of the chaos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_t6N1619P4&feature=player_embedded

[Lisa Wolfe]

 5:24 PM ET: Interactive map of Haiti  -- The Wall Street Journal has an excellent interactive map of the earthquake in Haiti that helps one get a sense of the geography around Port-au-Prince.

4:45 PM ET: Haiti's coming public health challenges -- A grim look at the obstacles ahead from UN Dispatch:

    Once you've survived the earthquake, what happens? Haitians now face a daunting set of health challenges, including typhoid, dengue fever, malaria, and getting treatment for serious injuries.


    While health information coming out of Haiti is still very sparse, data from previous earthquakes gives us a clear impression of what to expect in terms of health. The initial impact of an earthquake is catastrophic injuries - broken bones, crush injuries, dust inhalation, and burns predominate. You can see this in the heartbreaking videos coming out of Port au Prince.

[Lisa Wolfe]

    Injuries are made worse by the obstacles to getting treatment - hospitals are just as likely as other buildings to be destroyed in a quake and roads will be impassable. At least one hospital in Haiti has collapsed, and the Times of Zambia is reporting only one functional hospital in the country, a field hospital donated by Argentina. Emergency care is going to be almost impossible to access, and the greatest demand for medical care is in the first 24 hours after an earthquake.

4:25 PM ET: US temporarily halts deportations -- The Miami Herald reports:

    The Obama administration is temporarily suspending deportations of undocumented Haitian nationals who are in the United States, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday at a news conference in Miami.


    But there are no immediate indications from the Obama administration that it would grant Haitian nationals Temporary Protected Status in the aftermath of Tuesday's earthquake.

4:20 PM ET: Update on relief efforts -- Details on what's taking place, from the AP:

    Sniffer dogs, high-energy biscuits and tons of emergency medical aid were heading to Haiti on Wednesday as governments and aid groups launched a massive relief effort for the estimated 3 million people reeling from a devastating earthquake.

[Lisa Wolfe]

    Aid officials in the impoverished Caribbean nation worked to clear rubble from roads, build makeshift hospitals and remove bodies from the rubble despite transportation problems and broken phone lines.

    Wintry weather in Europe added to the challenge, with snow temporarily delaying a British aid flight with 64 firefighters and rescue dogs at Gatwick airport.

    As it struggled to gauge the full scale of the catastrophe, the United Nations said it was rushing food, personnel and medical supplies to alleviate the "major humanitarian emergency." It also confirmed at least 140 members of its own staff were missing under flattened roofs in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

    "We'll be using whatever roads are passable to get aid to Port-au-Prince, and if possible we'll bring helicopters in," said Emilia Casella, a spokeswoman for the U.N. food agency. Its 200 staff in Haiti were trying to deliver high-energy biscuits and other supplies, despite looting and the threat of violence in a nation long plagued by lawlessness.

4:15 PM ET: Footage of the aftermath -- Anderson Cooper's report on the devastation:

[Lisa Wolfe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSd9a-FFzW8&feature=player_embedded

4:00 PM ET: Pat Robertson says Haiti 'cursed'  -- Speaking on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club" today, the conservative televangelist offered the following outrageously insensitive thoughts on the tragedy, our Media editor Danny Shea reports:

    Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heal of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal.

3:55 PM ET: Earthquake relief scams -- FBI issues a warning, noting "Past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization and/or a good cause." You can read their steps for preventing fraud here.

[Lisa Wolfe]

3:50 PM ET: Obama's afternoon email -- The president, who spoke earlier today, sent the following out this afternoon:

    Good Afternoon,


    The reports and images from Haiti of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes, and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching. As we learn more about the extent of the devastation, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti and Haitian Americans around our country who do not yet know the fate of their families and loved ones back home.

    I have directed my Administration to respond with a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States Government in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble and to deliver the humanitarian relief -- the food, water and medicine -- that Haitians will need in the coming days.

    This is also a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share, and Americans have always responded to these situations with generosity of spirit. If you would like to support the urgent humanitarian effort in Haiti, I encourage you to visit our website where you can learn more about how to contribute:

    http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/HaitiEarthquake

    Americans trying to locate family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at (888) 407-4747.

    We will continue to stand with the people of Haiti and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

    Sincerely,

    Barack Obama

[Lisa Wolfe]

3:48 PM ET: Population graphic on earthquake's impact  -- HuffPost's Craig Kanalley has just posted an interesting graphic showing estimated population of those impacted by the 2010 Haiti earthquake. A segment of it is below, but click here

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/haiti-population-graphic_n_422179.html

 to see the whole thing with additional charts.

[Lisa Wolfe]

 3:38 PM ET: Why Haiti is the worst place for a quake  -- The BBC explains why Haiti was particularly vulnerable:

    This was a large tremor centred on an impoverished country with little recent experience or preparedness for such a major event of this kind.


    The buildings in the quake zones of major industrialised nations sit on damping systems that allow them to ride out tremors that not only shake them back and forth but also twist them in the same movement.

    The simplest concrete structures in the capital of Port-au-Prince will have crumpled under the same strain.

2:46 PM ET: Texting for help -- Reuters reports that Canadian man trapped in the rubble managed to send a text message to Ottawa. Canadian officials say they are rushing to help:

    "We know exactly where that individual is," [Foreign Minister Lawrence] Cannon told reporters.


    The victim managed to use his cellphone or hand-held device to send the text message, which was received by the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa, the minister said.

    Ottawa is also searching for two of the 82 Canadian police officers that are part of a U.N. force in the quake-stricken country. The other 80 have been accounted for.

[Lisa Wolfe]

2:40 PM ET: Death toll update  -- Some of the numbers that are starting to circulate are truly frightening. We mentioned earlier that the country's prime minister had told CNN that the number of casualties could be greater than 100,000. It now seems Haiti's consul general to the UN is also saying something similar -- "More than 100,000 are dead" -- while describing Port-au-Prince as 'flattened.'

Meanwhile, the AP is reporting that a senator, Youri Latortue, has put that figure at as high as 500,000, though he acknowledged that, of course, no really knows for sure.

As the President Preval told the Miami Herald earlier:

"Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed. There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them."

This description from the AP captures something of the horror:

    Death was everywhere in Port-au-Prince. Bodies of tiny children were piled next to schools. Corpses of women lay on the street with stunned expressions frozen on their faces as flies began to gather. Bodies of men were covered with plastic tarps or cotton sheets.

2:30 PM ET: US military relief -- U.S. Southern Command General Douglas Fraser describes the US's response, which will include sending navy ships:

[Lisa Wolfe]

2:25 PM ET: Photoessay of the disaster  -- The Red Cross has uploaded a video photoessay of images from Haiti. You can see more images via Flickr here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CyqBmVS064&feature=player_embedded

[Lisa Wolfe]

2:20 PM: 'Disaster of the century' -- The Washington Post reports that a member of Catholic Relief Services in Haiti wrote in an email today: ""It's the disaster of the century. We should be prepared for thousands and thousands of dead and injured."


12:45 PM: Geological survey list -- The U.S. Geological Survey's website has a helpful list of the earthquakes that occurred in the region, with info on their magnitude and the time they hit.

12: 35PM ET: CNN says casualties could reach 'hundreds of thousands'-- The news network is reporting that Haiti's prime minister told them that the final death toll could be hundreds of thousands. The Telegraph reports the prime minister as saying "well over 100,000."

12:04 PM ET: Main prison collapses -- Breaking news from the AP: "UN says the main prison in Haiti's capital has collapsed, with reports of escaped inmates."

11:55 AM ET: Following Updates on Twitter -- We just updated our Twitter list to make it even easier to follow the story live. Check it out.

11:52 AM ET: Crisis Information -- This website appears to be collecting and mapping crisis information. According to the New York Times' Lede blog, "Reports by eyewitnesses can be sent to haiti@ushahidi.com, by sending a tweet with the hashtags #haiti or #haitiquake, or through a form on their website."


11:35 AM ET: Radio DJ talks about what he witnessed -- Radio DJ Carel Pedre gives a firsthand account of what he saw when the earthquake struck in this video from ITN.

[Lisa Wolfe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHRlcT4jBWE&feature=player_embedded

11:15 AM ET: Over 100 Missing After UN Headquarters Collapse -- AP reports that nearly 100 people are missing in the rubble and that, according to the UN peacekeeping chief, so far 'less than 10' have been rescued.

    He would not confirm French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's report that everyone in the U.N. building, including mission head Hedi Annabi, appeared to have died in the earthquake.

[Lisa Wolfe]

Death toll estimates - The New York Times reports that Haiti's president Rene Preval has called the death toll "unimaginable," estimating that thousands may have died.

'There are people dying in the streets' -- American Frank Thorp talks about pulling his wife Jillian from the rubble in Port-au-Prince. From the AP:

    A young American aid worker -- trapped for about 10 hours under the rubble of her mission house that was destroyed in Haiti's earthquake -- has been rescued by her husband.


    Frank Thorp told CBS's "The Early Show" by phone from Haiti on Wednesday that he drove 100 miles to Port-au-Prince once he learned of the quake, and dug for over an hour to free his wife, Jillian, and her co-worker Charles Dietsch. The two were trapped under about a foot of concrete, he said.

    "It was absolutely terrifying," Thorp said.

Watch Thorp on the "Today Show' here.

Presidential palace before and after -- These before and after photos really capture the extent of the damage.

Statement from the Executive Director of the UN Food Programme: