Katrina Aid Program Is $2.9 Billion Short May 12, 2007 ~ can that be topped ? link ~ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/11/AR2007051102366.html
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
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"Banks have been robbed of the money in their vaults", Ephesian said. Appliance stores have been emptied. Grocery stores have been stripped bare.
"They keep talking about having 10,000 Marines, but where are they?" said Petruzzelli, who is a U.S. citizen. "If they sent even some Marines here, these guys would get scared off, that's a fact. Where are the Americans?"
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"Despite the uneasy situation in Port-au-Prince, we intend to resume aid distributions in the coming days."
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"She said they hope to reopen a port for ships carrying aid supplies by week's end, followed by a port than can take in urgently needed fuel"
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"The U.N. Security Council on Monday unanimously endorsed a proposal from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send 3,500 more peacekeepers to Haiti to assist in the humanitarian relief effort, but it was not clear how soon they would arrive" _________________________________
Security in Port-au-Prince erodes, hampering relief efforts
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI -- The security situation in the center of this capital appeared to be deteriorating Tuesday morning as groups of young men continued to scavenge what remained in the rubble and ruins of last week's crushing earthquake.
Haitian business owners visited downtown shops and warehouses, hoping to secure what inventory was left. But only a small contingent of Haitian police -- unassisted by the foreign forces being deployed to the island nation in large numbers -- worked to hold back the increasingly desperate and impatient people awaiting food, water and other international help.
Police fired into the air repeatedly Tuesday morning in the hope of keeping the gathering crowds away from intact shops. As quickly as people scattered, however, they would reassemble elsewhere and wait for the overwhelmed police to move along. "There's no way to stop the looting, but we're here to try to slow it down," said Louis-Jean Ephesian, a Haiti National Police officer patrolling Dessaline Boulevard, the capital's main commercial strip. "The biggest problem now is that people are trying to destroy what's left."
A week after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated this capital, Haitians are still waiting for relief in any form. The stench of decomposing bodies fills the streets, and limbs poke from the rubble. Vast urban refugee camps are being consumed by their own garbage. Driven by opportunity and hunger, Haitians are carting off anything of value that remains in buildings or on the streets.
Thousands of foreign security forces, including U.S. troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, have arrived in Haiti but have yet to appear in large numbers on the streets. Two U.S. soldiers could be seen Tuesday morning near the Champs de Mars, the central plaza that has become a tent city. Black Hawk helicopters landed at the heavily damaged National Palace and unloaded a contingent of U.S. troops, but they did not immediately venture outside the iron bar fence surrounding the palace, where hundreds of Haitians pressed up against the metal to watch them.
U.S. military officials said they are working to open up the ports in Haiti so they can funnel in more food and other aid. Marine Maj. Maria Marte said an underwater team of divers is coming in Tuesday to access the damage from the quake and formulate a plan to work around it.
She said they hope to reopen a port for ships carrying aid supplies by week's end, followed by a port than can take in urgently needed fuel.
"Getting the ports open is crucial because you can only bring in so many planes and the air wings are full" of items that have come in, Marte said. "The airport is trying to push as much as they can, but getting the port operational will impact getting the supplies they need."
Ephesian, the Haitian officer, and his partner stood guard outside what had been a photocopying business on the Rue des Miracles in the main business district, where few multi-story buildings survive. Banks have been robbed of the money in their vaults, Ephesian said. Appliance stores have been emptied. Grocery stores have been stripped bare.
Under his watchful eye, the owner of the copy shop pulled up in a red Toyota pickup and quickly packed his copy machines into the back. "It's not dangerous here, but the population is hungry," Ephesian said. "If they get food and water, they'll stop acting out of ignorance."
Hundreds of young men milled on the avenue in front of him, and Petruzzelli said that if he opened the large steel door to his store without police protection, he was certain looters would storm inside and grab what they could. He kept a shotgun inside, he said, but could not safely get it.
"They keep talking about having 10,00 Marines, but where are they?" said Petruzzelli, who is a U.S. citizen. "If they sent even some Marines here, these guys would get scared off, that's a fact. Where are the Americans?"
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"PORT-AU-PRINCE — Anger built Saturday at Haiti's US-controlled main airport, where aid flights were still being turned away and poor coordination continued to hamper the relief effort four days on.
"Let's take over the runway," shouted one voice. "We need to send a message to (US President Barack) Obama," cried another.
Control remained in the hands of US forces, who face criticism for the continued disarray at the overwhelmed airfield"
link~
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5guma2WKnHthswP2UVPiCIuLm_ocQ
Security has emerged as one of the most formidable challenges in this earthquake-shattered capital, officials said Monday, limiting the ability of the United Nations and relief officials from elsewhere to distribute the food and medicine beginning to pile up at the airport.
On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross started to distribute essential household supplies in the Delmas neighborhood, officials said. However, the distribution had to be interrupted owing to the tense atmosphere.
"These tensions are understandable given the extremely difficult situation people who have lost everything find themselves in," said Riccardo Conti, who manages ICRC operations in Haiti.
"Despite the uneasy situation in Port-au-Prince, we intend to resume aid distributions in the coming days." Meanwhile, the ICRC finished building another 10 latrines in Delmas and provided water for 7,500 people living in makeshift camps in three other areas of the capital.
The U.N. Security Council on Monday unanimously endorsed a proposal from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send 3,500 more peacekeepers to Haiti to assist in the humanitarian relief effort, but it was not clear how soon they would arrive.
"Security is the key now in order for us to be able to put our feet on the ground," said Vincenzo Pugliese, a U.N. spokesman. He said a lack of security had limited peacekeepers' access "to the operational theater" -- the city beyond the U.N. compound's walls.
The acknowledgement came as the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, estimated that 200,000 people were killed in the earthquake, far more than the 50,000 estimated over the weekend. The new figure is based on information from the Haitian government, but officials cautioned that it was still only an estimate.
Many of those in need of food and medicine are children. A representative for UNICEF, which is racing to open a facility to hold children who have lost their families, said thousands of young Haitians could have been separated from their parents in the disaster.
Late Monday, the Obama administration said it would temporarily allow orphaned Haitian children who are eligible for adoption by U.S. citizens into the United States to receive care. "We are committed to doing everything we can to help reunite families in Haiti during this very difficult time," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/19/AR2010011901590_pf.html
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