DORIANNE ARENDSE
As the first South African rescue team on Friday makes its way to Haiti to assist in Tuesday's catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0, the death toll is expected to rise well beyond the 100,000 mark in the capital, Port au Prince. The massive quake toppled everything in the capital from shacks to the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building and the Port au Prince Cathedral.
Many hospitals have also been destroyed or badly damaged. International media reports have indicated that the earthquake appeared at a depth of 10 kilometers. This is Haiti's worst earthquake in two centuries. It was earlier reported that a large number of United Nation staff members have been reported missing by the organization. Up to 3 million people have been affected by the disaster.
But Haiti is no stranger to disaster as it had often experienced natural phenomena such as hurricanes. Speaking to VOC's Drivetime on Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross' Florian Westphal said they are currently struggling to get in contact with some of their members who are working in the country. "It is unimaginable to picture what happens when suddenly at the end of a working day a disaster like this strikes. There is no way to prepare for it, it must have absolutely terrible."
Response by the Red Cross to the disaster in Haiti is made easier because the organization is a global one. In addition to this they also have teams on the ground which speeds up the reaction time. "We also benefit from the fact that the Red Cross is a global network. We are present in Haiti and in the region but also present elsewhere with considerable emergency resources. So we really try to swing into action literally as soon as disaster strikes," Westphal said.
Safety first
The first point of call for the Red Cross though was to make sure that all their members in the region were safe. "Our nine international colleagues are safe. The slightly more worrying news is that we have not yet being able to establish the whereabouts and the fate of our 60 local colleagues," Westphal reported. He said that they have not been able to move around Port au Prince to assess the damage because of the devastation by the earthquake.
However, they were able to make contact with one of the members of the Red Cross via satellite phone for a short while, but mobile connections in the capital is still down. "Communication is a major issue and we have also not being able to establish to what extent our office and warehouse where relief items is stored for up to 10 000 people has been damaged," he said.
According to Westphal the sea of devastation left by the earthquake is making it difficult for NGO's to provide relief to the survivors. The first priority for the organization in the wake of this disaster would be for them to search through the rubble to find survivors. Medical support will then be provided for those who have survived the quake but many of the medical structures in Haiti may not be well developed. "You have to assume that people may be too scared to return to those buildings that may still be standing because there have been a number of aftershocks."
Relief efforts
He said there will be a massive relief effort in Haiti which will see the Red Cross partner with other NGO's who may send people to provide some sort of relief in the country. "There will be a massive relief effort, we have heard from the United States and governments around the world may also get involved. For that to really bring benefit and to address the massive needs that exists undoubtly we have to coordinate effectively. We have to make sure that we do not just look at the capital Port au Prince where attention is focused at the moment but we also need to look into the surrounding areas but we have to assume there too that there has been massive damage."
Westphal added that they have in the past visited the prisons in Haiti to assess the conditions of the prisoners and they now try as soon as possible to find out what the current conditions are of the prisoners and what their needs might be. "Our colleagues on the ground in the capital are finding it so difficult to move about. When roads are block by debris, you can not just jump into a car and drive off. It will take a day or more until we have a full understanding of the scale of this disaster."
According to Westphal the needs of the Haitian people should be put at the fore front of what drives the relief aid. "Sometimes we are very pessimistic with each other as human beings that I think what you see with a disaster not only like the one Haiti but around the world is that there is this amazing willingness and motivation and drive to help irrespective of any political consideration," said Westphal.
