BBC: Haiti desperate for help, patience & solidarity turning to anger, corpses lining streets

[Bluebear]

Messrs. Limbaugh and Robertson, may karma reward you.


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The situation here in Port-au-Prince is now at a critical point, with rotting corpses beginning to fill the streets.

The cries of help that were being heard from the rubble have now been silenced - for many people it is simply too late.

Haitians feel very alone at the moment. The promise of aid has not yet materialised and many locals are still digging through the rubble with their hands.

Most of the bodies are covered in white bed sheets or rolled inside carpets, but others have been left exposed to the hot sun and the stench of rotting bodies has begun to fill the air.

Families who are desperately searching for their loved ones are gingerly uncovering the sheets that cover the corpses in the hope they can at least identify family members.

But even if bodies are identified there is nowhere for them to be laid to rest.

Mass graves are now appearing across the city.

The mood for the past 24 hours has been one of patience and solidarity, but there is now a sense of anger and frustration that could change the atmosphere here drastically.

"This is not the time to blame anybody. This is a natural disaster, only God knows why it happened," says Louinel Staibord, who came to Port-Au-Prince from Florida to find his family.

"I believe that this is the time where everyone should help each other, this is a time for generosity, we should sympathise with each other."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460547.stm

[EFerrari]

1. .

:hug:

[leftstreet]

2. ...

:cry:

[LakeSamish706]

3. The problem is, it just doesn't seem practical to be able to move much quicker to

be able to help these people. With after shocks ramped and an airport with only one runway, and a port that is not functionable.... It just cannot be done. Those of us that sit here and watch what is happening on CNN and other news networks, are frustrated beyond belief that we cannot save these people and help them much more rapidly. We donate our dollars, but we can't get the aide there quickly enough and it is so frustrating.

[unabelladonna]

4. it's going to turn bad before too long

i cannot fathom the magnitude of the problem, i really can't. dead bodies, no water, no food, the pain, the critically injured and the 90 deg heat. the people are going to reach the breaking point.....

[necso]

5. I have no firsthand knowledge

of the situation, but it sounds pretty bad.

If there are goods-distribution problems, there also appear to be a large number of potential laborers to work (at least while they're still able) as unloaders (where this is possible, even if only partially and by some makeshift), bearers (a strong piece of cloth or net can be used to carry a load), road-clearers (it can be a lot easier to make a road passable to foot traffic than to vehicle traffic), etc. (Goods and their carriers that can't be unloaded, moved or utilized with the resources at-hand or near-to-hand may be obstacles to be temporarily removed or otherwise moved out of the way (a tough call). And if, for example, planes are just sitting, they can sit an hour or two or three away.) And while it's an unaccustomed practice to many for goods to be transported by foot, a great amount of material can be moved quickly in this way. (And if needed, runners can be used for reporting and transmitting orders.)

Moreover, if the Haitian government isn't up to the task (because of the catastrophe) entirely by itself (like, say, by using police stations or other government buildings as information-collection/ labor-organization/ goods-distribution points), there may be other social institutions (like the churches) that can supplement the government's efforts. (These local entities could be expected to know the local area, and to be known to the inhabitants.)

Over-the-beach type of capabilities might be useful, as might other elements of military operations (recon, communications, engineering and logistics). (In the past we (and/or our allies) were able to move large amounts of supplies over-the-beach, supply West Berlin by air, evacuate Dunkirk under fire, etc.)