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WORLD> America
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Death spreads to storm shelters in Haiti
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-09 15:40 Hard-hit Gonaives, north of the capital, remained cut off by land. Red Cross trucks trying to reach Gonaives and Les Cayes on Haiti's southern coast had to turn back, one of many international aid efforts still struggling to leave the capital. Broken pews were scattered across the mud-smeared floor of the Gonaives cathedral, where about 50 people now live in the choir balcony. They gathered around a small cooking pot, stirring some goat meat and cornmeal to share. Meanwhile, inmates at the city's jail clamored for deliverance from the overpowering stench of filth and sewage, and supplies for jail staff and U.N. peacekeepers as well as the 224 inmates were perilously low, said Dr. Manvoor Ahmad, a Pakistani member of the U.N. mission. The USS Kearsarge arrived 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. But even the Kearsarge was frustrated in its effort to bring prompt relief to Gonaives. The ship spent most of Monday heading into port, sending helicopters ahead to find places around the city large and secure enough to offload. None were identified. Two helicopters carrying with rice, beans and cooking oil from the World Food Program headed instead to the town of Jeremie on Haiti's southwest peninsula, also cut off by flooding. A woman who cares for 110 children at the Haiti Gospel orphanage was among about 50 people asking for a share of the rice, beans and cooking oil from the World Food Program. "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." The Kearsage finally docked in Port-au-Prince in the evening, loading the amphibious ships with food for an overnight trip to Gonaive and hard-hit Saint Marc. "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. |
