Latest Haiti Disaster Updates Feb. 8
  

February 8, 2010 ( New information is in blue)

Background

Please forward to anyone who might be interested.

On January 12, at 5:22pm local time, a series of earthquakes ranging from magnitude 6.5 to 7.3 struck Haiti in the highly populated area of Department Ouest, 10 miles southeast of Port-au-Prince. Aftershocks continue to occur.

Recent Developments

According to the Red Cross the sanitation situation in Haiti is causing serious concern for potential epidemic outbreak of water-borne diseases. The need for the establishment of post-operative care facilities and mobile clinics also persists.

An Emergency Markets Mapping Analysis (EMMA) which will study specific market chains in Haiti has been planned by a coalition of agencies with collaboration from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the American Red Cross. The results will help target early recovery programming for specific economic markets in a coordinated manner.

After a few days of closure, the Port-au-Prince seaport is open in a limited capacity, with ability to offload smaller-sized 20 foot containers. The ports of Cap Haitian, St. Marc and Miragoane are functional but all have limited capacity.

In response to a request from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the American Red Cross is providing an additional 175 units of blood which are scheduled to arrive in Port-au-Prince today.  

Four Red Cross warehouses (two in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and two in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) are open and operating at full capacity. 

71 percent of the funds spent or committed by the American Red Cross have been for food and water; 20 percent have been for shelter; and the rest are for health and family services.

At this time, the most pressing needs identified by the Red Cross are shelter, sanitation and hygiene, food, and hospital bed capacity for post-surgical patients.

The Red Cross has assessed all affected areas in Port-au-Prince. More assessments are expected in surrounding areas that were not directly affected but are receiving an influx of displaced people.

The Red Cross response is expanding into areas outside of Port-au-Prince to the heavily damaged cities of Jacmel and Leogane as three Relief Emergency Response Units distributing relief supplies in those communities.

According to the UN, the port of Port-au-Prince has been declared unsafe for incoming ships following an in-depth assessment. Landing crafts are being used to offload boats, but these are operating with very limited capacity.

The deep community presence of the Haitian Red Cross has allowed Red Cross responders to distribute aid in an orderly and efficient manner. They visit the community in advance to alert them that aid is coming and vouchers are then handed out; later, the Red Cross returns to hand out supplies at a pre-determined location to recipients who wait in line to receive them.

At this time, the most pressing needs identified by the Red Cross are shelter, sanitation and hygiene, childcare, food, and hospital bed capacity for post-surgical patients.

The Red Cross response is expanding into areas outside of Port-au-Prince to Jacmel and Leogane as two Relief Emergency Response Units begin distributing relief supplies in those communities.

Numbers at a Glance

Current Situation

Overview

Despite logistical and security constraints, the Red Cross and other relief agencies are reaching an increasing number of earthquake survivors with medical assistance, food, water and shelter. Medical supplies, water and sanitation, tents, blankets, food, fuel and transport equipment continue to be priority needs. Many earthquake survivors continue to leave Port-au-Prince to seek shelter with family in other parts of the country, potentially expanding the geographic areas that will require humanitarian support.

Logistics

After a few days of closure, the U.S. Government reports that Port-au-Prince seaport is open in a limited capacity, with ability to offload smaller-sized 20 foot containers. The ports of Cap Haitian, St. Marc and Miragoane are functional but all have limited capacity.

The Port-au-Prince airport is handling approximately 120-150 planes per day. The number of aircraft is split between U.S. military aircraft, U.S. civilian flights carrying relief cargo, and international humanitarian flights.

The stock levels in the Red Cross Haiti warehouses have increased significantly. A fleet of 12 trucks has been contracted on a weekly basis to ensure distributions in Haiti. In Santo Domingo, all Red Cross shipments are loaded directly into two warehouses, which operational and have sufficient storage space for all commodities in the Red Cross pipeline and more.

The seaport has been declared unsafe for incoming ships following an in-depth assessment. Rio Haina in Dominican Republic is still the recommended entry point for sea shipment. Port-au-Prince airport is operating at peak capacity with an average of 120 incoming flights per day, although ‘no-shows’ due to strict flight arrival slots are becoming an issue.

In Haiti, most of the technical issues at the airport have been resolved and ground handling services have improved drastically. The second Red Cross warehouse in Port-au-Prince is now operational, dedicated to relief and shelter supplies, with the first warehouse focusing on Emergency Response Unit (ERU) needs. The amount of relief supplies from the Red Cross pipeline available for distribution is increasing daily, however, the arrival and management of unsolicited relief items is a growing concern that affects capacity.

Security

The security situation remains precarious, but there have been no reports of serious incidents. The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) continues to escort humanitarian convoys as they travel from the border with the Dominican Republic into Port-Au-Prince, as well as between the northern ports of Haiti and Port-au-Prince. Approximately 3,500 MINUSTAH forces are patrolling the capital. The American Red Cross Relief ERU is working closely with the Haitian National Red Cross Society (HNRCS) to socialize relief distributions and defuse tensions. In addition, the Red Cross now has a security coordinator in place to coordinate security issues for the Red Cross response.

Protection

Relief agencies are encountering children who have been separated from their families. The UN protection cluster is working to establish a system to take care of displaced children, including establishing child-friendly centers soon.

Search and Rescue

Search and rescue activities are winding down operations. A small number of search and rescue teams remain active to respond to requests for search activities and to assist the Government of Haiti with expertise and heavy-lifting equipment for debris removal.

Search and rescue teams are conducting secondary reconnaissance missions throughout Port-au-Prince following yesterday’s aftershock, as structurally unsound buildings may have collapsed. To date, international search and rescue teams have rescued 121 people. At the peak of efforts, at least 52 teams – including Red Cross teams from Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador – with more than 1,800 rescue workers and 175 dogs were searching for survivors in priority areas. As teams gradually conclude activities, many personnel are assisting with other relief activities. For example, the Mexican Red Cross team is now joining the American Red Cross in support of relief distributions. Search and rescue activities will continue until the Haiti government officially decides to cease operations.

Health

Red Cross teams from the healthcare ERUs and Haitian National Red Cross Society will be participating in coordinated immunization campaigns led by the health cluster. These will provide vaccinations for rubella, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus for children under seven years of age, and diphtheria and tetanus for older children and adults. The vaccination campaign, expected to begin February 5, will be combined with psychosocial support, community health and hygiene promotion activities, and will initially target displaced persons in settlement sites in the capital before expanding to other affected areas.

Approximately 1,200 patients are being seen per day at Red Cross health facilities, with around 4,000 seen to date. Medical services include surgeries, psychosocial support, and outpatient care from two field hospitals and three mobile Basic Healthcare ERUs providing services in locations across Port-au-Prince. Epidemiological surveillance has begun as well as psychosocial support and hygiene promotion.

According to the UN, the need persists for the establishment of post-operative care facilities and mobile clinics. Due to the large numbers of patients who are now without homes, hospitals are challenged with the issue of where to discharge patients.  

The health cluster is concentrating on disseminating key messages to the population such as the importance of washing hands, proper water storage, and using latrines in order to keep the spread of diseases to a minimum. Health clusters in Jacmel and Leogane are operational.

The USNS Comfort continues to treat patients. Approximately 70 Creole speakers trained by the American Red Cross continue to provide translation services aboard the ship.

Shelter/Relief Items

In general, the community presence of the Haitian National Red Cross Society has allowed Red Cross teams to distribute aid in an orderly and efficient manner up to this point. ERU teams and Haitian National Red Cross Society volunteers visit the community in advance to alert them that aid is coming, register beneficiaries and hand out vouchers. They return by the next day to hand out the supplies at a pre-determined location to recipients with vouchers. As per Red Cross principles, the distribution teams are not using any security.  

Some distributions have been incomplete due to crowds at sites, leading to the decision to review security procedures. A new strategy is being tested using security committees, composed of members of the community, in an effort to maintain order. Results of this strategy are being evaluated by the Red Cross.  

According to the camp management cluster, the sites newly identified by the Government of Haiti for planned camps fall short of meeting the needs of the number of people displaced. Sites are planned for Parc St. Claire, Parc Colofaire and Tabarre 48 Carredeux Street. Some 350 tents have been deployed on schedule to the site at Tabarre.

The affected population has found numerous coping strategies since their homes were damaged or destroyed. According to International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of people requiring shelter in Port-au-Prince could be as high as 1.1 million.

The main challenges for the providing shelter needs include: scarcity of open spaces in Port-au-Prince; uncertainty regarding the security of remaining buildings; density of the population; difficulties with host families; and the approaching rainy season. The combination of immediate shelter assistance with more durable settlement solutions also remains a challenge.

Food

According to World Food Program (WFP), 739,550 people have received food since the beginning of the operation. In addition to the 100,000 people reached on January 31 through the surge operation, some 25,000 people received food through distributions at hospitals, orphanages and community kitchens in Jacmel. WFP and partners aim to reach up to 2 million people in the capital over a two week period through 16 distribution sites.

The nutrition cluster estimates that the number of children under five requiring nutritional support is approximately 480,000. In addition, at least 120,000 pregnant women and 120,000 lactating women also require nutritional support.

The agriculture cluster is focused on two main priorities: starting activities that will reactivate rural and agricultural livelihoods in order to relieve the high levels of post-earthquake unemployment; and gathering information on food prices, agricultural and fresh product markets, and damage to agricultural households.

The American Red Cross has sent food to those in need, including 3 million pre-packaged meals and  funding for World Food Program (WFP) efforts that will enable them to feed up to 1 million people for a month. This is in addition to the more than $600,000 provided to International Committee of the Red Cross to provide food at medical hospitals and clinics.

Water/Sanitation

The authorities are working with the Red Cross to identify which settlements will become permanent settlements within Port-au-Prince, which is critical to enable a long-term strategy for water and sanitation. Until then, no solution other than trucking water is foreseeable for the next 3-6 months.

The Movement is now producing almost 1 million liters of water per day to approximately 185,000 beneficiaries. This is equivalent to an average of 5.4 liters per person per day.

Migration

As of February 1, the Government of Haiti estimates more than 482,000 people had left for outlying departments, and that 90 percent of the new arrivals are staying with host families who are in need of assistance. Due to the influx of people, the number of mobile health centers needs to be expanded in these outlying areas, according to the UN in Haiti.

Individuals with relatives in non-affected regions continue to take advantage of the Haitian government’s free transport service to leave Port-au-Prince. As of January 27, an estimated 235,000 people had left for outlying departments, according to OCHA. This includes more than 62,000 people bound for Artibonite department, particularly the town of Saint Marc.

People continue to leave Port-au-Prince for unaffected areas in the south and south west of the country. The Haitian government’s free transport service for people wanting to leave Port-au-Prince remains active and many are leaving affected areas. According to MINUSTAH, populations are arriving in Grande Anse, Nippes, South and Southeast departments. The provision of tents and other items to these populations and the installation of organized, structured transit centers will be needed.

Education

Schools in unaffected areas of Haiti reopened on February 1. According to an assessment lead by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, out of the 6,500 schools in the affected areas, 65 percent were completely destroyed, meaning that no reconstruction or rehabilitation is possible.

The education cluster is finalizing a supply plan for the coming two months which will include the distribution of tents, teaching and learning materials, and basic school equipment. It will also include a package for children returning and accessing school for the first time. The cluster’s initial estimate is to reach 720,000 children with individual kits.

Livelihoods

According to USAID, the government of Haiti has requested that banks, including at least 30 in Port-au-Prince, reopen on January 21 to allow businesses to distribute employees’ salaries and restart operations. The government of Haiti is prioritizing a rapid return to economic activities through the establishment of food- and cash-for-work programs, including efforts to re-establish power and remove debris from roads, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Protection

The child protection sub-cluster continues rapid assessments in settlement sites, orphanages, and hospitals. The rapid registration of especially vulnerable unaccompanied children has started, including unaccompanied children who are under five and those with mental or physical disabilities, and a database for separated or unaccompanied children is being established.

The Protection Cluster has identified priority protection issues, including security around the settlements and access to assistance for vulnerable groups, in particular older persons and people with disabilities.

UNICEF is continuing to spearhead the establishment of child-friendly spaces for separated/unaccompanied children in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince with a capacity for 200,000 children.

According to the UN, the Child Protection sub-cluster is continuing rapid assessments of temporary settlements, orphanages and hospitals. Due to reports of children being released from hospitals due to lack of beds without any responsible or authorized caregivers, health workers are being advised to monitor and send separated/unaccompanied children to child friendly spaces.

According to OCHA, protection cluster partners are assessing needs for separated/unaccompanied children, including visits to makeshift settlement sites, institutions, orphanages and hospitals. The government of Haiti has provided a list of 114 orphanages with an estimated 4,000 children in need of support.

Recovery

A Red Cross team is in Haiti is preparing for a scoping mission for the Post Disaster Needs Assessment to start on February 8. The assessment will include representatives from the European Commission, the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and the UN Development Program. A full assessment will likely take place during the last two weeks of February, which will help determine longer-term recovery needs.

An Emergency Markets Mapping Analysis (EMMA) to study specific market chains in Haiti has been planned by a coalition of agencies with collaboration from the American Red Cross. The results will help target early recovery programming for specific economic markets in a coordinated manner.

The UN early recovery cluster is focusing on cash-for-work programs entailing manual labor clean-up works that traditionally target men. The planned Red Cross cash-for-work activities target women-led households and are complementary to the cluster programming.

Ventura Red Cross

The American Red Cross of Ventura is organizing its available disaster volunteers for deployment when specific needs are determined. As this large scale catastrophic event will require significant resources in support of the Haitian community, the local chapter will also be managing donations and inquiries from individuals and businesses seeking personal and other information.

Several local businesses are holding events to support Red Cross Haitian Relief. See below for a few, and go to www.arcventura.org for updates. Others recognizing the potential impact the Haitian relief effort might have on local chapter  fundraising have voiced support to assist in those efforts after resources have reached needed levels for Haitian support.

January 30th through                       T.O. Westlake Karate Studio

February 5th                                      5700 Corsa Ave. Suite 111

Westlake Village  91362

(818) 889-3333

Donate $2 and break a board for Red Cross

February 10th            Wednesday   Chili’s Resturant

                                                            All restaurants in Tri-County

February 11th            Thursday        Boys & Girls Club of Ventura

                                                            Westview Center

                                                            6-7:30 pm

American Red Cross

During this emergency phase of the relief operation, the American Red Cross is

focusing its resources on in several areas:

Pre-packaged meals and funding for World Food Program efforts; Supplies and funding needed to provide clean drinking water; Shelter items such as blankets, tarps, sleeping mats and tents; and Health needs of Haitian survivors as well as support to Haitian families in Haiti and the US. This includes providing relief supplies, shipment of blood products, family linking services and providing Red Cross volunteers to the USNS Comfort.

To meet urgent needs, seventy-nine percent of the funds spent or committed have been for food and water; eighteen percent have been for shelter; and the rest have been for health and family services.

This is already the largest single-country personnel deployment in global Red Cross history. The number of emergency response teams in or en route to Haiti equals those that responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami – an emergency that spanned 14 countries.

 o American Red Cross chapters have begun to provide support to Haitian-American citizens arriving in the United States. At least 600 evacuees received clothing and other support upon arrival in Florida.

The American Red Cross is providing shipments of blood and blood products to Haiti at the request of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The American Red Cross also provided blood and blood products to the U.S. Navy to help Haitian medical patients evacuated to facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In addition, the American Red Cross has sent a shipment of blood products to the UN Mission in Haiti.  

Haiti National Red Cross

Support from Haitian National Red Cross Society staff and volunteers is critical to the relief operation, as they work with international Red Cross and Red Crescent teams providing food, water, first aid and other logistical assistance. It is important to recognize that these staff and volunteers have been gravely affected by the disaster themselves having lost homes and loved ones.

HNRCS facilities were badly affected and are still not operational, with particular damage to the blood transfusion center and first aid stocks.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (International Federation)

o The International Federation has released a Revised Emergency Appeal for US $103.3 million to help meet the immediate needs of 300,000 people over the next three years. Thousands of Red Cross workers representing 30 countries are currently assisting with relief efforts in the region.

o In addition to deploying a Field Assessment Coordination Team (FACT), the International Federation has mobilized 13 Emergency Response Units to provide support in logistics, relief and shelter, water and sanitation and healthcare, including specialists to meet basic health needs as well as provide complex care through a field hospital.

o The International Federation is coordinating the response through its Panama-based Pan American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU) which is providing coordination, logistics and supplies.

o The International Federation is coordinating the global Red Cross network response with the UN and other relief agencies.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)           

o The International Committee of the Red Cross continues to distribute medical assistance to major hospitals, clinics and smaller facilities. The ICRC is also working with the International Federation to distribute relief supplies and coordinate the arrival of emergency relief staff.

o The ICRC is coordinating family tracing activities and will be focusing on helping people affected by the disaster in Haiti to communicate with family members.

o The ICRC is also working with the HNRCS to support efforts to ensure the bodies of the dead can be recovered and identified for the families.

United Nations and Government Response

United Nations

o The UN has released a Flash Appeal valued at US $562 million to support the efforts of 29 relief agencies seeking to meet the needs of 3 million people during the next six months. The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released US $25 million in support of the appeal.

o The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has mobilized a United Nations Disaster and Assessment Team (UNDAC) as well as staff from its regional office in Panama. Multiple UN agencies are active on the ground, including the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme.

U.S. Government

o USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is the lead U.S. government office responsible for providing humanitarian assistance. On January 14, the U.S. government pledged US $164 million to support response efforts.

o Seven U.S.-based urban search and rescue teams are actively searching for survivors on the ground.

o Multiple teams from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have arrived to provide basic medical care, perform emergency surgeries and provide emergency mortuary services.

o The U.S. military is taking a major role in relief operations, deploying teams to rehabilitate the airport and seaport, as well as providing logistics support for humanitarian operations.

Those Interested in Providing Financial Support

The American Red Cross is accepting monetary donations to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Potential donors wishing to support this disaster may designate their gift to Haiti Relief and Development.

Although the need for continued support in Haiti is great, this incredible demonstration of generosity is affecting local chapters ability to seek resources for the support they provide their local communities. Please consider supporting those local charities doing good work in Haiti by also considering a gift in support of their 24/7/365 efforts here at home. 

Donations can be made by designating Haiti Response or the preferred International Response (this will allow Red Cross greater flexibility in supporting this and other disasters) and donating through your local chapter.

Checks may be sent to

American Red Cross

Haiti Relief

P.O. Box 608

Camarillo, CA 93011;

on line at www.arcventura.org – select International Fund.   

Also, many chapters have inquired about the legitimacy of a donation service via mobile texting.  Please note that the service is legitimate, and is being offered through Mobile Accord and the State Department’s third-party fundraiser. Donors may text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given to the American Red Cross to help with relief efforts; the donation is an automatic $10 donation.

The American Red Cross does not anticipate in-kind donations for this international response. 

Looking For Family Members?

Tracing Services:

As of January 23, nearly 25,200 people had registered with the ICRC's family linking website. Almost all of the registrations were from people searching for news about their relatives; 2,800 of these people have so far used the site to say they are safe and well.

 Red Cross chapters in the U.S. are already reporting families in the U.S. who have successfully used the website to locate family members in Haiti.

1. People searching for family are being directed to:  www.icrc.org/familylinks, this information is public and can be viewed by anyone

2. Several tracing personal are on the ground and more are on the way

Inquiries regarding US Citizens living or traveling in Haiti                      

Inquiries concerning U.S. Citizens abroad should be referred to the U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens services, at 1-888-407-4747 or 202-647-5225