A Dose Of Perspecitive In Haiti

I talk about catastrophes and destruction a lot here, it seems.  It is necessary (and altogether too unfortunate) to have Fate remind you of what the words "catastrophe" and "destruction" truly mean as evidenced by Haiti this morning.

The powerful earthquake that rocked Haiti "destroyed" much of Port-au-Prince, the country's first lady reported, as the widespread devastation in the country's teeming capital came into full view Wednesday as dawn broke.


"We talked with the first lady of Haiti last night, at least our consulate general in Miami did," Raymond Joseph, Haitian ambassador to the United States, told CNN's American Morning, referring to Elisabeth Debrosse Delatour.

"And she said that she was all right and the president {Rene Preval] was all right, and most government officials were all right because this thing happened after hours, and most of the government buildings that have collapsed, collapsed after the employees were out."

But "the bad news is that she said most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed, and she's calling for some help in the form of a hospital ship off the coast of Port-au-Prince, just in the same way that the United States had helped us in 2008 after four hurricanes hit Haiti in three weeks."

The words "most of a city destroyed" are meaningless until you've seen the images.  The pictures, if you have not seen them, are heartbreaking. The Red Cross is saying as many as three million Haitians need emergency help immediately.  Newly appointed USAID director Dr. Rajiv Shah has a hell of a welcome to his new position.

The State Department's official blog has info on how you can help.

For those interesting in helping immediately, simply text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

Or you can go online to organizations like the Red Cross and Mercy Corps Mercy Corps to make a contribution to the disaster relief efforts.

The State Department Operations Center has set up the following number for Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747. We'll provide more details and opportunities to help as we learn more. To stay up-to-date, follow us on state.gov.

Good to see the guys up top using the intertoobs to facilitate a rapid response.