US agencies coordinating Haiti rescue efforts

[February 04, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Teams from across the U.S. government, including the Defense, State and Homeland Security Departments, moved Wednesday to help victims of the powerful earthquake that struck Haiti.

Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said a disaster response team "will be going in today."

Late Tuesday, President Barack Obama told members of his national security staff late Tuesday he expects "an aggressive, coordinated effort." Obama said his thoughts and prayers were with the people of Haiti and said the U.S. stood ready to help the impoverished Caribbean nation.

The president prepared to make a public statement on the disaster later Wednesday, and the State Department scheduled a briefing on actions the U.S. government is taking in the relief area.

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake caused thousands of buildings to collapse in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, trapping untold numbers in tons of rubble. While estimating the number of casualties was impossible, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, "Clearly, there's going to be serious loss of life in this."

Deputy national security adviser Tom Donilon convened a meeting in the White House late Tuesday with senior representatives from the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, the Defense Department, U.S. Southern Command, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Homeland Security Department, the Coast Guard, and national security and White House staff to coordinate the government-wide response.

Former President Bill Clinton, who is U.N. special envoy for Haiti, said in a statement: "My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti. My U.N. office and the rest of the U.N. system are monitoring the situation, and we are committed to do whatever we can to assist the people of Haiti in their relief, rebuilding and recovery efforts."

The U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, said it was sending a disaster assistance response team and had activated its partners, the Fairfax County (Va.) Urban Search and Rescue Team and the Los Angeles County Search and Rescue Team.

Coast Guard officials in Miami mobilized cutters and aircraft to positions near Haiti to offer humanitarian assistance.

The State Department set up a toll-free number to call for information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747. The department said some callers may receive a recording because of heavy volume of calls.

The State Department has also set up links on its Web site to facilitate donations to disaster relief agencies.

Raymond Joseph, the Haitian ambassador to the United States, said Wednesday morning "there is no way of estimating" the casualties.

"I'm quite sure we're going to face a disaster of major proportion," he said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Asked what the Haitians most need, Joseph replied that "a hospital ship off the coast of Haiti is a must for us right now." He said that while it's too soon to say how many people perished in Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude quake, "Thank God that it was after hours." The ambassador noted that a lot of employees had left office buildings before the quake struck.

Joseph noted that major government buildings, including the presidential palace, have fallen.

"If a building like the palace, which is very solid, collapsed," he said, "then the devastation is going to be worse because not all of the buildings are up to code in Port au Prince."

The ambassador also said Haiti badly needs help with first-time responders, "and all kinds of good water and clothes, blankets. Anything that would be needed for victims at the outset."

Shah, interviewed on NBC's "Today" show, said: "We have two standing search-and-rescue teams with specialized technical capabilities and appropriate equipment to begin an aggressive search-and-rescue effort on the ground in Port-au-Prince."

"We are, obviously, concerned about and evaluating the ability to get those assets into Haiti and do that efficiently," he said. "And we're working very closely with U.S. (military) Southern Command to help make sure that we have the logistics support, the transport capacities and the other needed capabilities in order to put really the full force and capacity of the U.S. government to work on behalf of the Haitian people and on behalf of our U.S. citizens in Haiti right now.

[Associated Press; By MATTHEW LEE]

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