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Next days crucial to Haiti rescue efforts, officials say
By: cnn.comPosted On: 01/14/2010 1:01 P
The first wave of international aid landed Thursday in quake-battered Haiti as part of an urgent effort rivaling the worldwide response to the 2004 tsunami.
Countries and international aid groups scrambled to provide medical care, food and water to tens of thousands after Tuesday's devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
Authorities called the next couple of days crucial to saving the lives of people buried under rubble.
Haitian airspace was opened Thursday morning to charitable organizations, enabling humanitarian aid to be flown in, a Red Cross official said. But limited infrastructure doesn't appear to be able to accommodate the flood of aircraft headed there.
The Haitian government later was not accepting flights because ramp space at the Port-au-Prince airport was saturated and there was no fuel available, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said. And the U.S. wasn't giving takeoff clearances for flights into Haiti until they are notified space is available there.
Emphasizing that Haitian relief must be a top priority, President Obama announced Thursday $100 million in aid, saying, "This is one of those moments that calls for American leadership."
"I can report that the first waves of our rescue and relief workers are on the ground and are at work," Obama said, calling the relief effort one of the largest in recent U.S. history.
"To the people of Haiti, we say clearly and with conviction, you will not be forsaken," he said. "You will not be forgotten. In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands with you. The world stands with you."
Touching on the obstacles facing search and rescue units, Obama said, "Even as we move as quickly as possible, it will take hours and in many cases days, to get all of our people and resources on the ground. Right now in Haiti, roads are impassable, the main port is badly damaged, communications are just beginning to come online and aftershocks continue."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States was working to restore communications, and the Haitian ambassador to the United States, Raymond Joseph, said U.S. Marines were bringing heavy equipment to help clear streets.
Watch as rescue work begins in Haiti 
The quake affected roughly one in three Haitians -- about 3 million people, the Red Cross estimated. It was so strong that it was felt in Cuba, more than 200 miles away.
See CNN's complete coverage of the quake
People around the world, desperate for news of survivors, have tapped into social media Web sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to keep up with the crisis.
Watch as social-media sites help in search
Precise casualty estimates were impossible to determine.
Haitian President Rene Preval said Wednesday he had heard estimates of up to 50,000 dead, but that it was too early to know for sure. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said he worries that several hundred thousand people were killed.
And Felix Augustin, the Haitian consul general to the United Nations, said more than 100,000 may have perished.
At least 22 U.N. peacekeepers were killed in the quake as well as Joseph Serge Miot, Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince. About 150 U.N. staff members remain unaccounted for in the earthquake's aftermath, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.
Search and rescue units geared up to save those trapped in the capital, where the quake pancaked houses and chased others out in the streets, prompting thousands to sleep out in the open on mattresses and cardboard boxes. Rubble-strewn roads, downed trees and a battered communications network hampered humanitarian groups trying to get supplies to victims.
Watch a heartbreaking tour of the devastation
The calamity has overwhelmed doctors. Hospitals in Port-au-Prince have collapsed, and the few open facilities can't handle all the injured, Clinton told CNN's "American Morning."
She said it would be a challenge as the U.S. and other countries dispatch medical supplies, facilities and personnel.
"This is a large area involving many, many, many millions of people who have been cut off from access. Just getting to people to provide the medical assistance they need is proving to be very difficult," Clinton said, adding the next 24 hours are "critical to save those lives that can be saved."
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Clinton said search and rescue teams have begun work in Port-au-Prince to search for the missing, from residents sandwiched in homes to others unaccounted for, including members of U.N. staff and Doctors Without Borders.
But there is hope that trapped people are hanging on. For example, a U.N. security officer from Estonia was pulled from the rubble of the U.N. headquarters.
Saying there's "no higher priority than the safety of American citizens," Obama promised that crews will work to find and evacuate Americans.
The overcrowded national penitentiary in the capital collapsed, and inmates escaped, prompting worries about looting, said Edmond Mulet, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations. But the prime minister said the population has remained relatively calm in the face of the disaster.
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Clinton said the United States is providing security help to the United Nations, which was devastated by the collapse of its headquarters, a peacekeeping and police force established after the 2004 ouster of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
"The authorities that existed before the earthquake are not able to fully function. We'll try to support them as they re-establish authority," Clinton said.
She said a contingent of 2,000 U.S. Marines will help international peacekeepers who have served as police in Haiti, which doesn't have an army, and she said the 82nd Airborne and other military assets were arriving.
Obama noted that Coast Guard cutters were providing "everything from basic services like water to vital technical support for this massive logistical operation and the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and the U.S. Navy's hospital ship, the Comfort."
The United Nations announced $10 million in aid; the World Bank pledged $100 million. Agencies, celebrities and charities mobilized relief efforts, including the Samaritan's Purse, Islamic Relief USA, Jewish Federations of North America, Salvation Army, Catholic Relief Services, Jolie-Pitt Foundation and musician Wyclef Jean's Yele Foundation.
Watch as U.N. program vows more food aid
Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, France, Guyana, Israel Iceland, Japan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom also offered aid.
Clinton said $3 million had been raised through a State Department program in which those with U.S. cell phones can donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting "Haiti" to 90999.
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