Haiti disaster

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Mother, Baby Die After Haiti Gang Kidnaps Doctor

Another doctor, a desperately needed orthopedic surgeon, also was abducted

(Newser) - After being hit with a devastating earthquake and then a tropical storm , Haiti clearly did not need this latest problem: Gangs kidnapping doctors. One physician rushing to deliver a baby via emergency C-section was kidnapped in the capital of Haiti Tuesday, and the woman and her baby died. Another doctor,...

Haiti Quake Caused $14B in Damage: Study

Natural disaster one of worst ever, compared to size of country

(Newser) - Haiti’s earthquake caused up to $14 billion in damages, or 117% of Haiti’s annual economic output, according to a new study from the Inter-American Development Bank. That makes it the most costly natural disaster since World War II, relative to the size and economy of the affected country....

Angelina Jolie Heads to Haiti
 Angelina Jolie Heads to Haiti 
Feb 9, 2010 8:08 AM CST

Angelina Jolie Heads to Haiti

UN goodwill ambassador visited survivors yesterday

(Newser) - Angelina Jolie's latest humanitarian mission: Haiti's earthquake victims. The actress and UN goodwill ambassador visited with survivors hospitalized in the neighboring Dominican Republic yesterday, and a UN rep says she is traveling to Haiti today, the AP reports. During yesterday's hospital visit Jolie, accompanied by a UN rep, "spoke...

How the Scientologists Are 'Helping' Haiti

Scientology volunteers brought no food or supplies, just touch healing

(Newser) - A tipster who traveled to Haiti on a Scientology plane gives Gawker a firsthand account of how the religion is ineptly attempting to help. The "completely unprepared" volunteers planned to buy food once they got there instead of bringing it along, "but there was no food and no...

US Resumes Haiti Medical Airlifts

Some patients will go to other states, Caribbean countries

(Newser) - Military airlifts of injured Haitians to US hospitals are set to resume today after a five-day suspension in the wake of complaints that Florida hospitals were overwhelmed and needed help footing the bill. In the struggle to aid the estimated 200,000 people injured in the earthquake, the flight suspension...

Haiti Fears Organ Trafficking
 Haiti Fears Organ Trafficking 
Jan 28, 2010 5:00 AM CST

Haiti Fears Organ Trafficking

Children, adults being targeted: prime minister

(Newser) - Not only child traffickers but also human organ traffickers are targeting Haiti, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive tells CNN . "There is organ trafficking for children and other persons also, because they need all types of organs," he said. Bellerive gave no further details during the interview, instead rejecting criticism...

Haitians Seek Hope on Navy's Floating Hospital

USNS Comfort 'seeing infections most people never see in whole career'

(Newser) - The most advanced hospital treating Haitian earthquake victims isn’t actually in Haiti—it’s floating offshore. The USNS Comfort, the flagship of the US relief effort, is currently treating roughly 450 people, and giving hope to thousands more on land. “We can’t save everyone, but we’re...

Ex-NBA Player to Haitians: 'Use Condoms'

Paul Shirley snidely offers 'kudos to poorest in hemisphere'

(Newser) - Former NBA player and sometimes ESPN contributor Paul Shirley tells Haitians to "use a condom once in a while" and snidely offers "kudos on developing the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere" in an open diatribe posted on the Flip Collective . Shirley, who played for the Phoenix Suns,...

One Island, Two Faults Adds Up to Trouble Ahead
One Island, Two Faults
Adds Up to Trouble Ahead
haiti earthquake
Jan 26, 2010 8:04 PM CST

One Island, Two Faults Adds Up to Trouble Ahead

Geologists keeping a worried eye on the Haiti-Dominican Republic hot zone

(Newser) - Haiti's devastating earthquake came as a shock to most non-geologists, but the Caribbean is one of the most seismically active areas in the world. The Caribbean plate is squeezed between two larger plates, the North American and South American, creating loaded fault lines. Haiti's quake was along the Enriquillo line—...

Haiti: Death Toll Tops 150K
 Haiti: Death Toll Tops 150K  
Jan 24, 2010 12:14 PM CST

Haiti: Death Toll Tops 150K

But UN places number at 111K

(Newser) - The confirmed death toll from Haiti's devastating earthquake has topped 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area alone, the communications minister said today, with many more thousands dead around the country or still buried under the rubble. Communications minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue said the figure is based on a body...

Haiti Rescue Effort Ends, Death Toll Hits 111K

132 were pulled alive from rubble; focus turns to survivors

(Newser) - The Haitian government has called an end to the search for survivors of the January 12 earthquake, with 111,481 confirmed dead, according to the latest UN stats. Search teams managed to rescue 132 people in the aftermath of the 7.0 quake, which left 609,000 homeless. Flights arriving...

Aid Reaches More Survivors
 Aid Reaches More Survivors 
haiti earthquake
Jan 22, 2010 5:04 PM CST

Aid Reaches More Survivors

Now, hundreds of thousands need relocation

(Newser) - Improved logistics are allowing relief teams to deliver aid to an increasing number of victims in Port-Au-Prince and other areas of Haiti affected by the deadly earthquake. Given the time that has passed since the quake, disaster teams are switching their focus from search and rescue operations to relocation for...

6.1 Quake Shakes Haiti, 72K Bodies Buried

Frightened survivors flow into the streets

(Newser) - A strong 6.1 aftershock rolled through Haiti at 6:03am today, says the US Geological Survey, a mere 35 miles from Port-au-Prince. The quake struck at a depth of 13.7 miles, but was thought to be too far inland for any risk of tidal waves. AP reporters on...

Fast-Tracked Haitian Orphans Arrive in US

Paperwork cut as orphanages struggle to cope after quake

(Newser) - Small groups of Haitian orphans have already begun arriving in the US in recent days as authorities cut red tape for American families with pending adoptions. Haitian orphanages that were struggling to cope now face being completely overwhelmed with new arrivals, and US officials have sped up paperwork to place...

15-Day-Old Rescued From Haiti Rubble

UN: Search and rescue effort 'a fantastic success'

(Newser) - Members of a search and rescue team demolishing a ruined home in Haiti yesterday were amazed to find a 15-day-old baby who had survived without food and water for a week. "It was the mercy of God," the baby girl's mother told the Wall Street Journal . She had...

$22M in Haiti Texts Revive Red Cross

Fundraising bonanza hits formerly cash-strapped charity

(Newser) - The American Red Cross, which only a year ago turned to the government for a bailout, is now awash in donations thanks to an outpouring of generosity for the Haiti quake victims. The organization had pulled in $103 million as of late Sunday, with $22 million of that coming via...

As Help Scales Up, So Does Haiti's Nightmare

Survivors increasingly desperate for aid

(Newser) - The staggering scope of Haiti's nightmare came into sharper focus yesterday as authorities estimated 200,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless in the quake-ravaged heart of this tragic land. In one step to reassure frustrated aid groups, the US military agreed to give aid deliveries priority over military flights...

What Rebuilding Haiti Will Mean
 What Rebuilding Haiti Will Mean 
Jan 19, 2010 4:45 AM CST

What Rebuilding Haiti Will Mean

Debt relief, housing quality, and a better government are key

(Newser) - World leaders have vowed to rebuild Haiti's infrastructure into something better than it was before; the Independent takes a look at what this would mean in practice:
  • Higher-quality housing: Haiti has no building codes; international donors should insist the new dwellings their funds build for those left homeless in the
...

Wyclef Jean Tearfully Defends Charity

Musician denies using organization to pay himself

(Newser) - Wyclef Jean defended his Yele Haiti charity against accusations of fraud today, crying as he spoke in Creole. "Did I ever use Yele money for personal benefits? Absolutely not," the singer told reporters. The revelation that the charity paid $250,000 for services provided Telemax, a Haitian television...

Haiti Recalls 9/11 for Rescuers
 Haiti Recalls 9/11 for Rescuers 
Jan 18, 2010 3:20 PM CST

Haiti Recalls 9/11 for Rescuers

But scale of destruction shocks even disaster veterans

(Newser) - The New York Task Force has seen a lot—it has worked to save people at Ground Zero after 9/11, in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and now in Port-Au-Prince after last week's earthquake. For these seasoned rescuers, the experience of saving people from disaster doesn't change that much from...

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