Haiti Earthquake - Warning - Graphic Photo

[jdh122]

I don't like to see this:



Of course our foremost concern should be the safety and health of the people of Haiti, but an image like this makes one pause and just take a moment to appreciate what we have.

[babyjames]

we got too many of. W123 Mercedes, on the other hand....

Jay

[johnjzjz]

i hope they take the rocks off it soon , looks to have nice paint from photo - jz

[blackestate]

E-bay quote "small dings as expected with a car of this age"

[aklim]

Does this affect the Voodoo trade? I still have a few people to hex.

This earthquake seems like it's pretty serious:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.earthquake/index.html

[jdh122]

After reading some of the casualty reports coming out of Haiti today, I regret having posted anything that even remotely suggests any sort of humorous or lighthearted aspect to this tragedy.

I suggest that we limit our comments to expressions of sympathy or, better yet, ideas of how members can help those affected.

Here is one idea: Children's Hunger Relief Fund

[dannym]

Originally Posted by jdh122

After reading some of the casualty reports coming out of Haiti today, I regret having posted anything that even remotely suggests any sort of humorous or lighthearted aspect to this tragedy...........[/URL]

Thank You!

I intend to donate, they are going to need lots of help in the near and long time future.


•The American Red Cross is pledging an initial $200,000 to assist communities impacted by this earthquake. They expect to provide immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support. They are accepting donations through their International Response Fund.

•UNICEF has issued a statement that "Children are always the most vulnerable population in any natural disaster, and UNICEF is there for them." UNICEF requests donations for relief for children in Haiti via their Haiti Earthquake Fund. You can also call 1-800-4UNICEF.

•Donate through Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yele Haiti. Text "Yele" to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your phone bill and given to relief projects through the organization.

•Operation USA is appealing for donations of funds from the public and corporate donations in bulk of health care materials, water purification supplies and food supplements which it will ship to the region from its base in the Port of Los Angeles. Donate online at www.opusa.org, by phone at 1-800-678-7255 or, by check made out to Operation USA, 3617 Hayden Ave, Suite A, Culver City, CA 90232.

•Ben Stiller's Stillerstrong campaign will be temporarily diverting all donations to support the Haiti relief effort.

•Partners In Health reports its Port-au-Prince clinical director , Louise Ivers, has appealed for assistance: "Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS... Temporary field hospital by us at UNDP needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us." Donate to their Haiti earthquake fund.

•Mercy Corps is sending a team of emergency responders to assess damage, and seek to fulfill immediate needs of quake survivors. The agency aided families after earthquakes in Peru in 2007, China and Pakistan in 2008, and Indonesia last year. Donate online, call 1-888-256-1900 or send checks to Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Fund; Dept NR; PO Box 2669; Portland, OR 97208.

•Doctors Without Borders is on the ground and has set up clinics to treat injured in Haiti. Donate any amount so they can keep their efforts going.

•Direct Relief is committing up to $1 million in aid for the response and is coordinating with its other in-country partners and colleague organizations. Their partners in Haiti include Partners in Health, St. Damien Children's Hospital, and the Visitation Hospital, which are particularly active in emergency response. Donate to Direct Relief online.

•Oxfam is rushing in teams from around the region to respond to the situation to provide clean water, shelter, sanitation and help people recover. Donate to Oxfam America online.

•The UN World Food Programme is gathering all available resources to deliver food to the recently homeless and impoverished in Haiti. Donate now to help bring food to those affected as quickly and efficiently as possible.

•The Baptist Haiti Mission is operating an 82-bed hospital that is "overflowing with injured." Donate online to BHM and 100% of your donation will go to the relief effort.

•International Medical Corps is assembling a team of first responders and resources to provide lifesaving medical care and other emergency services to survivors of the earthquake. Donate online.

Danny

[dynalow]

The other side of the US Military.

First question: Where are our Carriers?

Answer: On the way.

Carl Vinson, other ships headed to Haiti

By Lance M. Bacon - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 13, 2010 13:02:06 EST

The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson was rerouted Wednesday to support humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, according to U.S. Southern Command. The carrier is expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday.

The command confirmed additional Navy ships are underway to Haiti, but did not specify what vessels would be going.

The command, based in Miami, also deployed a team of 30 people to Haiti to work with U.S. Embassy personnel as well as Haitian, U.N. and international officials to assess the situation and facilitate follow-on U.S. military support, according to the press release. The team includes military engineers, operational planners, a command and control group and communication specialists. They will arrive in Haiti today on two C-130 Hercules aircraft.

Elements of the Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing were deploying to the international airport at Port-au-Prince to provide air traffic control capability and airfield operations. They are expected to arrive in Haiti on Wednesday afternoon.

Early Wednesday morning, Coast Guard helicopters evacuated four critically injured U.S. Embassy staff to hospital at Naval Station Guantanamo, Cuba, for further treatment.

A U.S. P-3 Orion from the Forward Operating Location at Comalapa, El Salvador, also conducted aerial reconnaissance of the affected area.

SouthCom has supported 14 major relief missions in the region since 2005, including assistance to Haiti in September 2008. During that mission, forces from the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge and other units airlifted 3.3 million pounds of aid to communities that were devastated by a succession of major storms.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people and all those affected by this devastating earthquake,” said Army Col. James Marshall, SouthCom spokesman.

Vinson and its crew of approximately 3,200 sailors left Norfolk on Tuesday en route to their new homeport in San Diego. The carrier, which is commanded by Capt. Bruce Lindsey, was joined by Carrier Air Wing 17 and the cruisers Lake Champlain and Bunker Hill. As flagship of the newly established Carrier Strike Group 1, Vinson was to provide maritime security as it circumnavigates South America and provide humanitarian assistance or disaster relief, if required.

The call came fewer than 24 hours later.

A magnitude-7.0 quake devastated the impoverished nation Tuesday afternoon, leveling thousands of structures and leaving an untold number trapped in the ruins. Death tolls are expected in the thousands, and International Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said 3 million people, one-third of Haiti’s population, may need emergency aid.

The United Nations on Wednesday said the capital’s main airport was “fully operational” and that relief flights would begin immediately.

The United Nations has 9,000 peacekeepers in Haiti, but most are searching for survivors in their headquarters, which collapsed on an unknown number of people. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was reported as saying in his radio address that “[i]t would appear that everyone who was in the building, including my friend Hedi Annabi, the United Nations’ Secretary General’s special envoy, and everyone with him and around him, are dead.”

More than 4,000 sailors from the Nassau Amphibious Ready Group and 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are scheduled to deploy Monday from Norfolk and Camp Lejeune, N.C., as part of a regularly scheduled deployment in the 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation. There is no word on whether those ships will depart early or be used to support humanitarian requests.

The ARG includes the amphibious assault ship Nassau, the amphibious transport dock Mesa Verde and the dock landing ship Ashland. The 24th MEU is comprised of 1st Battalion, 9th Marines; Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 (Reinforced); Combat Logistics Battalion 24 and Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 28
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/01/navy_vinson_haiti_update_011310w/

[aklim]

Originally Posted by jdh122

After reading some of the casualty reports coming out of Haiti today, I regret having posted anything that even remotely suggests any sort of humorous or lighthearted aspect to this tragedy.

I suggest that we limit our comments to expressions of sympathy or, better yet, ideas of how members can help those affected.

Here is one idea: Children's Hunger Relief Fund

Charity begins AT HOME. Like we don't have enough problems of our own? Our economy is in the toilet, people are out of a job. What did Haiti do for us again when we had Katrina?

[jdh122]

Originally Posted by aklim

What did Haiti do for us again when we had Katrina?

Here is what they did:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Haitian government and a group of businessmen from the poorest country in the Americas on Tuesday offered the United States $36,000 in aid donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The interim authorities in the unstable and destitute country of 8 million people, half of whom survive on a dollar a day, acknowledged the amount was modest.

But Finance Minister Henri Bazin said it was a testimony to the friendship and solidarity between the richest nation in the hemisphere and its poorest neighbor.

"Despite our meager means, we want to be counted among those who showed solidarity toward you (the American people)," Bazin told the top U.S. diplomat in Haiti, Timothy Carney, during a joint news conference.

[aklim]

Originally Posted by jdh122

Here is what they did:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Haitian government and a group of businessmen from the poorest country in the Americas on Tuesday offered the United States $36,000 in aid donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The interim authorities in the unstable and destitute country of 8 million people, half of whom survive on a dollar a day, acknowledged the amount was modest.

But Finance Minister Henri Bazin said it was a testimony to the friendship and solidarity between the richest nation in the hemisphere and its poorest neighbor.

"Despite our meager means, we want to be counted among those who showed solidarity toward you (the American people)," Bazin told the top U.S. diplomat in Haiti, Timothy Carney, during a joint news conference.

Fine, double it and we'll be even. Call it interest from 04

[Fitz]

CNN's Anderson Cooper is already on the scene and prepared to dispense financial aid. He's brought a big roll of $5 bills and his buttless Mardi Gras chaps.

[aklim]

Originally Posted by Fitz

CNN's Anderson Cooper is already on the scene and prepared to dispense financial aid. He's brought a big roll of $5 bills and his buttless Mardi Gras chaps.

You should be banned for that image you place in people's heads. What is the barfing smiley when you need it.

[BobK]

Aklim, do not donate if that is your wish. Personally, I support the efforts by our government to deliver aid to these folks. I suspect a few others here also support the efforts. But you may have suggested something without realizing it. Haiti will need considerable rebuilding of its major systems; water, sewer, power. Perhaps we should put together a program employing out of work skilled folk to travel there for some time to begin reconstruction of these systems. Without them, the initial death toll will easily be doubled by the illnesses that follow.
Considering the GDP of Haiti vs the amount donated in Katrina relief by them, I suspect that would be like us giving quite a bit of money.
Haiti contributed a sizeable amount of the population of NOLA during the 19th century. They have contributed considerably to the culture of NOLA.