What Structural Engineers See For Haitis Recovery

From Denny: Already the structural engineers are visiting Haiti's capitol city, Port-au-Prince, to assess how many buildings need to be completely demolished. They are also taking a look at how many buildings could be retro-fitted and rebuilt. This is a nation that did not use simple rebar stabilization in their brick, stone and concrete doorways and windows where the structure would be the weakest. It is standard construction of the most inexpensive homes in America and is not a costly addition or fix.

The problem with Haiti's building codes is that they are minimal and usually unenforced. New and stricter codes are being called for as cleanup from the earthquake begins and thoughts turn to rebuilding the country literally from the ground up.

Indonesia's devastation from the 2006 tsunami at the town of Banda Aceh has proven an awesome example of recovery five years later. Take a look at how Haiti could follow in their footsteps:

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Now that three weeks have passed since the earthquake it is a bit easier to take a look at this news footage of an amateur video taken at the time of the earthquake. Gives us an acute illustration as to how much of a job structural engineers have to do in this country.

This is from a survivor's video as the earthquake began, continued at HOPE Orphanage, then the bedlam outside in the aftermath. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed at that orphanage. Look at all the tremendous dust in the air; it must have felt like they were choking on it.



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Summary: Surviviors Process as They Rebuild Lives

From Denny: More than two weeks after the earthquake, with stiff competition for basic resources of food, water and shelter, the people began to fan out into the countryside, stressing their resources.

That's what happened in my town in south Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans. There was a mass exodus from there and they came in like locusts into Baton Rouge, emptying the grocery stores, clogging the roads with bumper to bumper traffic, increasing the traffic accidents 500% and then they emptied our gas stations.

They left the locals with absolutely nothing for weeks while we waited to be resupplied. Which is why I always keep up to a month's supply of food pantry items in case of this very kind of emergency. It isn't what's going on in your town you have to worry about; it's what's going on in a larger metro area that may trigger a mass exodus coming your way. The countryside and smaller towns in Haiti are now receiving their desperate hungry locusts devouring what meager resources they had.

Two weeks after the earthquake:

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Day 12:

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Still a dearth of accurate or any information available to survivors or others outside Haiti:

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It took three weeks after the earthquake before my cousin, who was visiting Haiti to donate her time as a music teacher, was finally able to get out a message to family and friends that she was fine. She is living in one of those tent cities somewhere around Port-au-Prince where resources are limited. She was lucky to only experience bruises and minor lacerations as she fled the music school where she was giving a concert with the kids. Since she has recovered from some heavy leg bruises and a concussion she has pitched in to help the local relief efforts.


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Lucky Haiti Orphans Found Open Arms, New Homes

From Denny: Always in a terrible disaster like the Haiti earthquake of 12 January, just three weeks ago, there are those who get rescued and brought out to a new life elsewhere. At the time of these news stories over 90 orphans have been brought to United States to meet new parents.

Orphans denied as Haiti backlogs on adoptions, ferreting out whether they are legitimate or child trafficking:

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Twins Ethan and Brecken are all smiles. The vast majority of these were adoptions already in process that the Haitian government was aware to be legitimate.

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67 Charities to Donate: Helping Haiti Heal

From Denny: The outpouring of donations worldwide for the relief of suffering in Haiti following a 7.0 devastating earthquake is incredible. The following are a list of 67 well-known established charities to which you can donate safely.

The Mobile Giving Foundation has received over $30 million in text pledges from cell phone donors the past two weeks. Even the Pew Research Center was well impressed and threw out some statistics:

14% donated by text message
12% donated by phone
23% donated via the web
5% donated via email
39% donated in person via a church or other group

Here's something I doubt any of us thought about when we donated by text message or phone: how long will it take for the phone companies to send out that donation? Turns out it can take from 30, even up to 60 days to transfer customers' contributions, which is then added to the mobile phone bills.

The biggest carriers like Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have all decided to expedite those donations.

Here's each company's status:

Verizon Wireless: Last Friday, 22 January, they transferred $2.98 million. Today, 28 January, they transferred $4.84 million. Jeffrey Nelson declared the campaign "the largest outpouring of charitable support by texting in history — by far. In all of 2009, all mobile giving (via texting) to all charities totaled just under $4 million for the year."

AT&T: Donations are up to $10 million. The company says they will "advance payment of verified texted donations" to the Red Cross.

Sprint: Donations so far are $3.1 million. By Friday, 29 January, they will advance 80% of the donations with the remaining 20% placed into the usual 30 to 90 day settlement cycle.

T-Mobile: They are working hard to expedite on a weekly basis.

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Relief Agencies where to donate:

Action Against Hunger 877-777-1420
Agape Flights 941-584-8078
American Red Cross 800-733-2767
American Refugee Committee 800-875-7060
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 212-687-6200
American Jewish World Service 212-792-2900
AmeriCares 800-486-4357
Beyond Borders 866-424-8403
B'nai B'rith International 202-857-6600
CARE 800-521-2273


CarmaFoundation
Catholic Relief Services 800-736-3467
Childcare Worldwide 800-553-2328
Church World Services 800-297-1516
Clinton Foundation 501-748-0471
Concern Worldwide 212-557-8000
Convoy of Hope 417-823-8998
Cross International 800-391-8545
CRUDEM Foundation 413-642-0450
CRWRC 800-55-CRWRC


Direct Relief International 805-964-4767
Doctors Without Borders 888-392-0392
Episcopal Relief and Development 800-334-7626
Feed My Starving Children 763-504-2919
Food for the Poor 800-427-9104
Friends of WFP (World Food Program) 866-929-1694
Friends of the Orphans 312-386-7499
Habitat for Humanity 800-422-4828
Haiti Children 877-424-8454
Haiti Foundation Against Poverty


Haiti Marycare 203-675-4770
Haitian Health Foundation 860-886-4357
Healing Hands for Haiti 651-769-5846
Hope for Haiti 239-434-7183
Hope for Haiti Now 877-99-HAITI
International Child Care 800-722-4453
International Medical Corps 800-481-4462
International Rescue Committee 877-733-8433
International Relief Teams 619-284-7979
Islamic Relief USA 888-479-4968


Lions Club International Foundation 630-203-3836
Lutheran World Relief 800-597-5972
Medical Benevolence Foundation 800-547-7627
Medical Teams International 800-959-4325
Meds and Food for Kids 314-420-1634
Mennonite Central Committee 888-563-4676
Mercy Corps 888-256-1900
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries 800-306-9950
New Life for Haiti 815-436-7633
Operation Blessing 800-730-2537


Operation USA 800-678-7255
Oxfam 800-776-9326
Partners in Health 617-432-5298
RHEMA International 248-652-9894
Rural Haiti Project 347-405-5552
Salesian Missions 888-608-2327
The Salvation Army 800-725-2769
Samaritan's Purse 828-262-1980
Save the Children 800-728-3843
ShelterBox



UN Central Emergency Response Fund
UNICEF 800-367-5437
United Methodist Committee on Relief 800-554-8583
World Concern 800-755-5022
World Hope International 888-466-4673
World Relief 800-535-5433
World Vision 888-511-6548


Text to donate:

Text/ Number/ Giving campaign/ Amount

"HAITI" 90999 American Red Cross $10
"QUAKE" 20222 Clinton Bush Haiti Fund $10
"GIVE" 25383 MTV telethon $10
"HAITI" 25383 International Rescue Committee $5
"HAITI" 85944 International Medical Corps $10


"YELE" 501501 Yele Haiti foundation $5
"HAITI" 52000 The Salvation Army $10
"HOPE10" or "UNICEF" 20222 UNICEF $10
"HABITAT" 25383 Habitat for Humanity $10
"OXFAM" 25383 Oxfam America, Inc $10


"HAITI" 40579 National Religious Broadcasters $10
"SAVE" or "SAFE" 20222 Save the Children Federation $10
"GIVE" or "WORLD" 20222 World Vision, Inc $10
"CARE" 24383 CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc) $10
"AJWS" 25383 American Jewish World Service $10


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Haiti: 2 Weeks Later Incredibly More Survivors Rescued

From Denny: Just when you think you have to give up hope of pulling anyone alive from the rubble of Haiti's earthquake more than 10 days later, someone is found alive. It is always astounding what a human being can tolerate to survive. Usually, rescuers call off rescues because most people cannot survive more than 10 days without water.

In one case of a young man found, it turns out that as the 5 story building he was in collapsed, luck would have it that he fell on the side of a first level grocery store. He was able to scramble and crawl around inside the rubble to retrieve soda, beer and other small found foods. He said there were many others like himself still alive in his same area.

Longest waiting survivor, a 16 year old girl:

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A man rescued:

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This is the follow-up story on Jeannette the bank worker who was rescued last week. Remember her? She was interviewed while she was still entombed in the concrete as the rescuers began the three hour ordeal of cutting her free from the heavy stones. As they pulled her free, and lay her on a stretcher to take her to the hospital with only minor injuries, she started singing loudly and praising God for her rescue.

It was her husband who doggedly kept digging for her, listening for her voice under the rubble, unwillingly to let her die. This is a rare story for the media to do, they actually took the time to see how she was doing after the rescue and it's all good news:

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One Man in Haiti Helping Those Who Fall Between the Cracks of Big Relief Efforts

From Denny: One man watched the news in America and decided he had to do something in Haiti, so he hopped on a plane and has been helping one person at a time as he roams the damaged city.

On Twitter he is known as "onehaitian." I even tweeted him in the hope he may visit Jacmel to tell me if my female American cousin is still alive as she has been reported from other musician friends. Haven't heard from him yet. He's probably slammed with the need in front of his face every minute. Take a look at this great story:

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Mission of Hope Run by American in Haiti

From Denny: A few years before the disaster struck in Haiti, American Brad Johnson decided to move there and help the people in his parents' ongoing Christian mission to Haiti. He was in a unique position to help after the earthquake as he already had an established school, an orphanage and a medical clinic operating, along with plenty of supplies. His mission is just outside of Port-au-Prince. He is busy distributing supplies to survivors and has been within hours of when the disaster hit.

Here is the website: Mission of Hope in Haiti

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5 Haiti Stories, Good News: Pulled From the Rubble, Alive 11 Days Later

From Denny: Here's a compilation of the best and most recent rescues, pulling people from the rubble. We can only imagine what went through their minds this past week and a half while they hoped against hope for rescue. What's even more amazing is how many come out quite strong both in spirits and body - in spite of severe dehydration. It's also good news for the rescue teams to achieve some measure of success as so many like the Israeli team came from half a world away to help.

Rachel Maddow gives a glimpse into the work of the rescue teams. She also lists the website to donate. First, the Israeli rescue team:

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10 days later after the earthquake hit another rescue:

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The British get their chance to visit with the little girl they rescued:

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Medical Horrors Earthquake Survivors Face

From Denny: From an American doctor's point of view here's the latest on the desperate medical situation in Port au Prince, Haiti. It's difficult for doctors, working without proper operating rooms, equipment and anesthesia. Instead, they have resorted to hardware store hacksaws they have sterilized with vodka and are operating in makeshift tents in the dirt streets full of dust and rubble. Even when successful in the amputation many will die for lack of follow up medical care. It's a desperate situation all around.

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Rescue workers and medical staffs are doing what they can for Haitians who are so seriously injured.

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What survivors are facing from crush injuries is the reality is there are over 70 required amputations a day now. The grim situation is that now a week has passed and the injured have received little or no medical attention until now. During that time the wounds became so infected that gangrene set in. When that happens the wounded area begins to die and if not amputated the poison can reach the blood stream and then kill the person. Tough decisions all around.

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Frustration Mounts as We See What Really Happens in Haiti Rescue Efforts

From Denny: Up at dawn and because of government red tape with the United Nations, this German rescue team was not able to begin work in this city outside the capitol until after noon. They were sent to a city too late to help. Frustrated, the rescuers left wondering why they were sent here when they could be of more use elsewhere. Precious time was wasted and who knows how many more died waiting rescue.



Here's a tough example of what rescuers face as they try to retrieve crushed survivors. This is Dr. Marc Grossman speaking from the USAR South Florida Task Force 2:

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Doctors Without Borders Work Without Meds, Logistics of Ferrying Supplies into Haiti

From Denny: Here's a summary of video clips of the ongoing medical situation in Haiti as the rush against time heightens trying to reach and treat people medically in time to save their lives before infection or disease takes its toll.

One thing is for sure, CNN reporter, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, deserves a humanitarian award for his work off camera with the Haitian survivors, often outnumbered by thousands to one doctor. He works with no hospital, no supplies to speak of and tries to monitor his patients' in the most primitive conditions. Like he said, "I'm a doctor first, a journalist second. I have to go now, will report later. New patients were just trucked in and I have to see what I can do for them." This man is a class act.

Haiti's few hospitals have all collapsed or been abandoned yet there are thousands of injured who need treatment.

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Daunting health problems lie ahead for the thousands who have survived the devastating earthquake:

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Haitian quake victims pour into The Dominican Republic while relief workers head off in the opposite direction hoping to get supplies through to Port au Prince:

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Logistical problems ferrying supplies into Haiti:



CNN Link, if video does not play, go here.

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Student Documentary Filmakers Rolled Cameras in Haiti Moments After Earthquake

From Denny: Jon Bougher and Roman Safiullin were two graduate students working on a Port au Prince documentary when the earth shook beneath their feet. They ran to rescue their cameras and began filming immediately afterward to document how people responded. They said people were screaming out to find loved ones while others were screaming out and singing to God, praising Him for saving them. It was quite an emotional ride for them as shaken survivors - and film makers who felt it of high importance to record the terrible event.

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Hillary Clinton in Haiti, Relief Helicopters Dropping Supplies to Needy

From Denny: The Obama administration held off sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Haiti initially so as not to take away from Haiti any of the news cycle. They did not want the media focused upon "the Americans" visiting instead of focused upon what the Haitian people needed. Finally, an Oval Office resident with some decency, sensitivity and class.

The earthquake erupted in Haiti late Tuesday afternoon. Secretary Clinton scheduled her visit for Saturday as by then she would have more details to relate to the Haitian government of what America will be doing in their relief efforts. She also negotiated permission from the Haitian government to allow our military to take temporary control of the airport in order to fully staff and properly facilitate faster flights in and out to which the Prime Minister agreed.

The world beat a path to Haiti's door to help but without anyone to help them land or off load desperately needed medical supplies, food and water in an efficient manner. Secretary Clinton was successful in receiving permission for a few days to be negotiated again as needed.

"America is here to help," she says.


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Rescue efforts turn to the next phase of recovery efforts:


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Take a look at this brief clip to get an idea of the logistics of how difficult it is to get supplies directly to the people:



If does not load properly as CNN is overwhelmed, here is the link, go here.

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Current State of Haiti 2 Days After Quake

From Denny: Things are still in terrible chaos in Haiti and 3 million people are in distress, lacking for food and water, as well as medical attention. Many injuries are traumatic crush injuries from concrete buildings falling upon them, causing amputations to those who survived the earthquake and were successful at being dug out by strangers who dug with their bare hands to help.

The whole world continues to mobilize, bringing supplies and doctors for their aid. The problem is that it's a small airport and not enough people to help off load the supplies. Planes circle waiting to land. When the U.S. military gets here they will be able to take command of the airport and staff it around the clock like they did during Hurricane Katrina. Without their efforts many more people would have died. Until then, those relief workers that were already in the country are doing the best they can with what little they have to work with for the moment.

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Current State of Haiti 1 Day After Quake

From Denny: Of course, the place and the people are in chaos after such a traumatic event as rescue and relief efforts mobilize out of the country to get here in a race against time. The immediate destruction is mind boggling as people wander the streets to assess damage, look for relatives and friends to reconnect and begin to forage for food and water supplies.



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This is the full 20 minutes NBC News broadcast so you can see the fluidity of the situation moment to moment:

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Haiti Smashed by 7.0 Earthquake Late Afternoon

From Denny: Here's the NBC News account of what happened today in Haiti when a terrible earthquake struck about 5 PM their time. Last year seismologists warned the Haitian government that a strong earthquake could happen soon in the next two years - that was about 18 months ago.

Running laterally through the entire country is a fault line and this earthquake region is known as "the ring of fire." Haiti's last earthquake of this high magnitude on the Richter scale happened 220 years ago.

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