Earthquake In Haiti

At this point the death and damage is pretty much beyond comprehension.

Haitian President René Préval issued an urgent appeal for his earthquake-shattered nation Wednesday, saying he had been stepping over dead bodies and hearing the cries of those trapped under the rubble of the national Parliament.

Préval, in his first interview since the earthquake, said the country was destroyed and he believed there were thousands of people dead but was reluctant to provide a number.

``We have to do an evaluation,'' Préval said, describing the scene as ``unimaginable.''

``Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed,'' he said. ``There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them.''

The U.N. said casualties were ``vast'' but impossible to calculate.

The International Red Cross said a third of Haiti's nine million people may need emergency aid and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge, the Associated Press reported.

Obviously the US military is going to play a significant role in relief efforts. Right now there's talk of sending the aircraft carrier USS Vinson and an amphibious assault ship to the island. The biggest issue will be fresh water as well as a large fleet of helicopters to ferry supplies, especially to hard to reach areas. Given that reports are that most if not all hospitals are destroyed, I wouldn't be surprised to see the DoD move in the hospital ship USNS Comfort.

Once chilling note...some early estimates are that upwards of 500,000 people may be dead. That would represent 5% of the population.

Even at half that.....

Oh yeah, idiot extraordinaire Pat Robertson knows why so much tragedy has befallen the Haitian people...they made a pact with the Devil.

posted by DrewM. at 04:28 PM

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