Haiti

[andyh4]

One additional thought.

 

The Boxing Day Tsunami killed around 220,000 people and did severe damage and displaced around 1 million people.

Some estimates of this disaster say that 200,000 people are dead, there is severe damage and around 1 million people are displaced.

 

The Tsunami was over around 10 countries affecting thousands of miles of coastline and with countries with in total many airports.

This disaster has hit one country.  Affects perhaps a few hundred miles of coastline and there is one airport.  The degree of concentration of the aid needed is the real challenge.

[Chancer]

AndyH4

A very good and informative posting.

One thing that I would like to add from my very non-informed position is that in the first few days I am certain that priority will have been given to getting in rescue crews and equipment to search for survivors, there was a very limited window of time to find and dig out the living, and I do pray that they will still find more unlikely as it is, during that time the importation and distribution of food and water must have been of  a lower priority than that of medical personnel and equipment.

After a couple of days for the survivors water would have been the first priority followed by food although even today this is probably of lesser importance than medical supplies and as you rightly point out the means to offload and distribute aid.

[Frederick]

Rotary Clubs world wide are supporting the supply of Shelter Boxes  http://shelterbox.org/  and are doing street collections .

Our local radio this morning reported 400 have been put in place to provide accomodation at the hospital ...This is a very practical way of giving support ...Well done Rotary ...Lots more will be needed and the fund raising continues ...

 Sorry Judith  I missed your post  re the Shelter Boxes ....  Hope the above link to the videos on their site helps your message in support of Rotary's work . The video of what goes into the boxes and how they are used is worth watching .

[andyh4]

Chancer

you are quite right about the SAR teams but as time is absolutely of the essence, many were already on the ground before the US were given the OK to take over operation of the airport or at had made the original damage assessment and started to move the army relief goods and personel - hence their ommission from my post.