E-mail
Print
RSS
G-bookmarks
Live
Technorati"People are starting to move back because they have nowhere to go," U.N. development official Eric Mouillefarine said Monday. "They want to protect their homes from looters."
The USS Kearsarge was arriving in Port-au-Prince Monday after it was rerouted from a humanitarian mission to Colombia. With eight helicopters and three landing ships, it can deliver cargo and equipment all over Haiti, providing much of the logistical support needed by aid groups that have not been able to get through on land.
Some of the helicopters flew ahead to find dry places large and secure enough to offload, and the amphibious boats can reach places where even helicopters can't land. The Kearsarge also has four operating rooms and 53 hospital beds, which may come in handy once the ship reaches the hard-hit cities of Saint Marc and Gonaives.
"We can deliver several thousand tons a day. It's not what we can do, it's how it can be done," said the mission's commander, Capt. Fernandez "Frank" Ponds. "We can't just land them anywhere, so we're doing assessments. We have to make sure they can land safely."
One of the helicopters delivered rice, beans and cooking oil from the World Food Program to the town of Jeremie on Haiti's southwest peninsula. A woman who cares for 110 children at the Haiti Gospel orphanage was among about 50 people asking for a share.
"My garden was destroyed," said Yvros Pierre, who had just two bags of spoiled bread mix left. "My food is finished. My boss told me to see if there were any Americans coming and ask them for help."
Aid groups are appealing for donations to sustain a lengthy response, warning of a secondary disaster caused by waterborne illnesses and other problems in the weeks ahead. Even areas not destroyed by the storms need food, and Haiti's main farming area in the Artibonite Valley was threatened again when authorities had to open an overflowing dam on Sunday.
Some Gonaives residents gave up on the city altogether, walking barefoot across mountains to reach Haiti's northern coast, which suffered less damage. Racine Presume in Cap-Haitien said he got a desperate call from a group of a dozen relatives gave up along the way — and he was trying to find fuel for his truck to reach them.
"They are waiting for me. I said, 'Can I bring you a bed?' They said, 'Don't bring a bed because we don't have a house. Bring food, bring clothes, bring shoes, bring lots of water,'" Presume said. "They are dying of hunger."
Associated Press Writer Alexandra Olson, with a helicopter crew from the USS Kearsarge, contributed to this report.
