AMERICA THE EXCEPTIONAL RESPONDS TO THE HAITI DISASTER. IT’S WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO
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In Haiti, It’s U.S. To The Rescue Again
Disaster Relief: Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti was its worst since 1770, leaving the capital in ruins and a death toll that may top 100,000. But help is on its way, and it’s America leading the effort.
Our tiny tragic neighbor was already in bad shape when the 7.0 earthquake struck the capital of Port-au-Prince. It wasn’t just any 7.0 quake, as if that were not bad enough, but a shallow one, meaning it shook harder.
Worse still, it hit the most populated area of the country, where 3 million of the country’s 9 million citizens live — and left thousands dead and many more homeless.
The country’s Roman Catholic archbishop perished. The United Nations chief of mission is dead and 150 U.N. personnel are “missing.” Embassies are “in the dark,” as a State Department official said at a briefing, with many still trying to locate their staffs.
The presidential palace, the buildings of state, the U.N. headquarters and the cathedral lay in rubble. Even the rich areas of the city with decently constructed buildings were devastated. As for the poor, the story is unbearably sad as the injured trapped in hovels cry out for help and bodies are dragged to the streets. There are no ambulances, no telephones, no power and no potable water.
But there is the U.S. and, all partisan politics aside, it’s to America’s credit that it’s once again the last resort of the devastated, and has the biggest, swiftest response under way.
Employing the best practices learned from past disasters, already the U.S. Coast Guard has surveilled the country by air with P-3 Orion aircraft to determine the extent of the catastrophe. The U.S. embassy personnel inspected the airport and port and found them usable, and U.S. military personnel have taken over air traffic operations to ensure aid can get through.
Disaster Assistance Response Teams (known as DARTs) landed Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the quake, and are assessing where help is most needed, as well as how much and what kind. The DARTs are gathering news about open roads, areas where information can be found, medical needs, and food, sanitation and potable water needs.
Meanwhile, President Obama has ordered the U.S. Navy’s Southern Command to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier with 2,000 Marines, plus six other ships, toward Port-au-Prince. It will support the U.S. Agency for International Development effort, and keep order with the U.N. mission down. Cargo planes are on the way; the USS Comfort, an invaluable hospital ship, is preparing to leave Baltimore. Cities such as Los Angeles have also dispatched disaster response teams to help.
Then there are the ordinary U.S. citizens. Using the technology of the day, Americans have sprung forward with $10 donations to the American Red Cross by texting “HAITI” to 90999, billable to their cell phones. Haitian musician Wyclef Jean has seen his Web site overwhelmed with offers of help and is urging Americans to text “YELE” to 501501 to donate small amounts.
Aid agencies such as Feed the Children, the Salvation Army, Catholic Relief Services and Direct Relief International are marshaling resources and preparing to find the best way to deliver them.
There’s no doubt the task will be tough for everyone and there could be blunders along the way. Disease, looters and corruption are troubles ahead. Already Haitians are complaining that the U.N. troops are clogging the streets and doing nothing, probably because they don’t know what to do.
But for all the abuse it takes from abroad about not “doing its share,” America already is showing it does know what to do. As a nation, Americans are mobilizing to provide the lion’s share of help to the helpless. They did so with the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, and they will do so for our tiny stricken neighbor, too.
It’s our nation at its finest. When the chips are down, it’s the Americans who come to the rescue.
It won’t be an easy task. A quake such as this can have a terrible effect on the morale of a nation. Haiti is a proud country with a history of independence much like our own. It was just getting back on its feet after years of decline. Catastrophe there could have the same effect as 1755’s Lisbon earthquake, which left many questioning whether there was a benevolent God and accelerated the Enlightenment.
In this impossible situation, the U.S., the nation born of the Enlightenment, is now the hope arising out of the disaster. Not just for Haiti, but as the last best hope for the world.
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