Haiti

[aquanut]

By now everyone knows about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Did this affect our friends in the Dominican Republic?
Also, do we have any Treasure Hunters in Haiti? Aside from the Red Cross, who I'm about to make a donation, do we know anyone down there that needs our help?
Aquanut

[Mackaydon]

No membership from Haiti is shown on the country index of TNet.

[ScubaFinder]

A few tried to work in Haiti...but the corrupt government never let it work out. Lots of great wrecks, but no thunters there right now. Burt Webber and Tracy Bowden were both very far away. I haven't heard from Lubos today, but he was in Santo Domingo just a few days ago so he is likely good as well. They felt the effects, but there was very little damage in DR. Even my friends in Manzanillo on the Haitian border were fine.

Looks like the th'ing community dodged this one. I'll let you guys know if I hear from Lubos before he posts here.

Jason

[itmaiden]

Yea, it is sad that Haiti has had both oil and gold resources in their country, but that the gov't doesn't utilize it for the good of all the people in the country and so many live in the most humble of conditions. The country is in a good position for developing a good sea trade and a tourist industry, yet it doesn't apply itself apparently.

itmaiden

A few tried to work in Haiti...but the corrupt government never let it work out. Lots of great wrecks, but no thunters there right now. Burt Webber and Tracy Bowden were both very far away. I haven't heard from Lubos today, but he was in Santo Domingo just a few days ago so he is likely good as well. They felt the effects, but there was very little damage in DR. Even my friends in Manzanillo on the Haitian border were fine.

Looks like the th'ing community dodged this one. I'll let you guys know if I hear from Lubos before he posts here.

Jason

[capthawk]

terrible and seems so close to home - have seen so many Haitian immigrants in Bahamas and all seem so willing to just have the chance to work - look at what they go to sea in to find a better life

any history of the region notes what potential Haiti had: government - there in lies the rub

well at least the US is stepping in -- seems as if they got the ball rolling and the military involved a lot sooner than in Katrina here in the US

remember being in the islands then and everyone asking me "why doesn't the (US) govt/military do something?"

[godisnum1]

I have missionary friends down in the DR who said they didn't feel the main earthquake at the time because they were driving, but it was a 6.0 where they were at with about 33 aftershocks. One of my Facebook friends, who is a missionary in Nicaragua, is wanting to get a group together to go down and do relief work. He's looking to see if there are any organizations that would be willing to fund a relief group to go down the the country. I told him that if he's able to, I've got my passport sitting on my desk... I'd only need to clear a week or two off with my work. I found some round-trip tickets tonight from Tampa International to Port-au-Price that are about $360 for a week, and about $460 for two weeks. I also was able to locate a Missions Aviation Agency called Missionary Flights International that cater to the missionaries down in the DR and Haiti area, as well as other Caribbean islands... they might be willing to help under the circumstances.

I read that it's so bad right now, they've been stacking bodies in piles along the sides of the streets.
As scary as that is, I wish I were able to go down and help them...

Bran <><

[bigwater]

Text "haiti" to 90999 to send ten bucks to the American Red Cross to assist in the relief effort. You'll get a text back confirming that you want to donate. The ten bucks will be added to your next cell phone bill. Stay away from Haiti right now unless you have a compelling reason to go, and by compelling I don't mean humanitarian reasons. Your help will not be welcomed. Take this from someone who's tried to assist in natural disaster aid/rescue before.

Ten bucks may not sound like much, but so far about 1,000,000 people from around the world have sent in ten bucks, so it adds up.

[ScubaDude]

I heard from Lubos a.k.a. Bobodilla in Santo Domingo. He's fine, minor shaking, no damage there. His impressions of what Haiti suffered sounded pretty grim. I suspect it will be a few more days before the extent of the damage is remotely understood. I can't imagine what those people are enduring.

[diverlynn]

I am also interested in working as captain of crew or cargo boats. I have my TWIC card also but can not find the correct sources or companies in need of hiring boat crew. I am guessing by water is the most logical means of transportation getting people and supplies in and out.
If anyone has any ideas who I could contact please let me know.

My son, at Fort Eustice, said they are deploying military ships as we speak.

diverlynn

[itmaiden]

Diverlynn,

I would contact the American Red Cross. They could probably put you in touch with all the right persons/resources for volunteering your services. You may also want to contact CNN, the Coast Guard, and maybe even the Miami and Ft Lauderdale Hospitals.

itmaiden

I am also interested in working as captain of crew or cargo boats. I have my TWIC card also but can not find the correct sources or companies in need of hiring boat crew. I am guessing by water is the most logical means of transportation getting people and supplies in and out.
If anyone has any ideas who I could contact please let me know.

My son, at Fort Eustice, said they are deploying military ships as we speak.

diverlynn

[itmaiden]

Port Damage: See here on CNN

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...yed.cnn?hpt=C2

itmaiden

I am also interested in working as captain of crew or cargo boats. I have my TWIC card also but can not find the correct sources or companies in need of hiring boat crew. I am guessing by water is the most logical means of transportation getting people and supplies in and out.
If anyone has any ideas who I could contact please let me know.

My son, at Fort Eustice, said they are deploying military ships as we speak.

diverlynn

[vulcan007]

It is catastrophic tragedy what happened in Haiti this week. The capital city is utterly destroyed and it will be days before any meaningful widespread help is possible. The airport was closed today for commercial planes. Only 1 runway is open. The reason was that there is no fuel for planes to leave.

Estimates put the number of casualties in 100,000 - 500,000.

If the port is damaged and the airport is practically closed, could aid be taken from the DR? I believe most reporters are going from the DR to Haiti.

If you can please donate to the American Red Cross or one of the children organizations. I hope that the international community this time will do the right thing and seriously help rebuild this poor nation and bring democracy to them! If the US were to spend 100th of what has been spent in the war in Haiti, we could build this nation out of poverty and help millions of humble people. Or we could make Haiti a territory like Puerto Rico and bring that country out its misery.

It is a shame that a country so small and close to us is the poorest in the western hemisphere. France and the US could jointly lead them out of this state of poverty and corruption.

I do believe that the reconstrucion effort will be an opportuinity to create many jobs for construction companies in the US, but we must have someone honest in charge to ensure that things are really built and no one rips off tax payers in this country.

Please help if you can!

[Alexandre]

Business Aviation Rallies To Help Haiti Quake Victims

The business aviation community quickly swung into action yesterday to help earthquake victims in Haiti. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake centered just 10 miles from Port-au-Prince struck the country on Tuesday, killing tens of thousands of people and injuring countless more. Notably, the Corporate Aviation Responding in Emergencies (Care) network–a group set up by Strategy Aero Group CEO Marianne Stevenson in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to help organize general aviation humanitarian efforts following disasters was activated for the first time.

Stevenson, who is also Care’s president, told AIN that the organization is seeking aviation assets to assist in relief flights to bring needed supplies and search-and-rescue personnel to Haiti. NBAA is coordinating with the DHS, the Red Cross and Care, among others, and has set up a relief effort Web site. “The business aviation community is ready, willing and able to help,” an NBAA spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force’s 1st Special Operations Wing yesterday took over ATC responsibilities at quake-damaged Toussaint L’Ouverture International Airport. While the airport is open, only humanitarian flights are being allowed at this time. Through a Notam, the FAA said operators trying to fly into Haiti should expect delays, including ground holds, due to limited ramp space at Toussaint L’Ouverture.

[FISHEYE]

It looks like google may be updating the sat images soon.For the DR the images havent been updated for over 12 years.They always update when ever theres a disaster,main event or war in a area on the globe.

[FISHEYE]

I found some updated google imagery for haiti.And 2 sailing shipwrecks and a broken oil pipe.

http://mw1.google.com/mw-earth-vecto...thquake-nl.kml

[ivan salis]

france will do nothing to assist their former slave colony that revolted killing many frenchmen in their bid for freedom --- many haitians wil take the aid but still hate the "white -ghost" oppressors of the past as they veiw whites -- it goes back to how they got their freedom in the first place and the fact that afterwards white banking / money cartels refused to do bussiness with haiti --keeping them fiscally down ever since that time --the racist hatred has festered for many many years , along with the poverty . --as one strong man govt after another has taken advantage of its own people for their personal gain .

in the past much of the aid sent to aid haiti has been funneled into the pockets of the powerful few in haiti.

[kamgort]

World will help Haiti. I am afraid that the main help stolen and the people as he lived and will live poor.

[itmaiden]

There was an appeal on tv. for people to donate to the UN organizations rather than smaller organizations, implying they were better at handling such matters. My observations through the years, is it has been groups like the churches who have been better organized at handing out food and water, other supplies and re-building structures. We know the UN has had corruption problems.

To give you an example....I was concerned it would be like Iraq where the military did not organize the people for food distribution and the males pushed the women and children aside and were grabbing everything and more than their share.

On the news yesterday in Haiti they had a truck handing out biscuits. The men pushed ahead of the women and children, there were no organized lines formed for fair distribution, and one of the men mis-read the production and expiration dates on the package and told everyone the food was "bad" and "no good" so then the people started throwing the biscuits down on the ground and stomping on them. The truck driver, then just drove away with the rest of the food with the women and children standing there hungry.

There was no interpreter/communication to explain anything to the people, no one organizing them into a line, and no one keeping track of the distribution.

Poor emergency management as always.

itmaiden

World will help Haiti. I am afraid that the main help stolen and the people as he lived and will live poor.

[Reef Dawg]

The devestation is clear. It truly is horrific to see how ill prepared the response was though in the post event aftermath. I'm not a dumb guy, but we have had a real problem finding a source that can truly deliver our aid to the relief efforts there. So, we are reserving our help and awaiting a clear and convincing outlet to give it to. Hopefully, when we do make the decision and write our check, it won't be siezed by some Haitian Warlord.

[FISHEYE]

I you are going to donate anything.Donate it directly to the red cross on their web site.If you do the text donation.They wont see that money for 90 days.Also whoever is offering the text deal gets 20% of the proceeds.But then again you have no idea where the money really goes.Best is just to let the gov do their thing.The gov can just print money at will.