Terremoto devasta o Haiti
Porto Príncipe após o terremoto
O grupo estava dividido em dois. Uma parte tinha ido à Universidade do Estado, entrevistar um professor, a outra ficou na La Pleiade, a maior livraria de Porto Príncipe. Eu estava na livraria. De repente, foi como se uma onda passasse pelos nossos pés e tudo começou a tremer. Corremos pro meio da rua e durante mais ou menos um minuto entre gritos e coisas caindo, ficamos perto um do outro.
As pessoas começaram a levantar os braços gritando “Jesus” e “Bon Dieu”, um posto de gasolina explodiu na quadra ao lado e feridos apareciam aos montes, dentro e fora dos escombros. Caminhamos em direção à casa do Viva Rio, onde estamos hospedados. Somos cerca de 15 brasileiros na casa.
Assim, Porto Príncipe veio abaixo. A ajuda internacional fazia a propaganda de um país que caminhava para a estabilização e de uma força militar da ONU, chefiada pelo Brasil, bem sucedida e preparada para possíveis adversidades. O terremoto e os rumores que começam a chegar na casa do Viva Rio no centro, Kay Nou, passam a impressão de que a cidade está abandonada. As tropas da ONU não saíram às ruas por enquanto para atender a população haitiana, possivelmente por se concentrarem no auxílio aos seus pares. Ouvimos notícias de saques, e escutamos tiros. A sensação é de que talvez as coisas piorem. Já falamos com o exército e estamos tentando entrar em contato com a embaixada.
Provavelmente saíremos daqui em algum tipo de evacuação. Mas o que vai ficar para os haitianos é a grande questão…
Ontem dormimos no jardim da casa ao som dos cantos de pessoas que velavam seus parentes e vizinhos.
Rodrigo
RIO e BRASÍLIA - A fundadora e coordenadora internacional da Pastoral da Criança, Zilda Arns Neumann , de 75 anos, morreu no terremoto que atingiu na noite de terça-feira os arredores de Porto Príncipe, capital do Haiti . De acordo com Ministério da Defesa, onze militares brasileiros morreram e vários outros ficaram feridos em decorrência do tremor de 7 graus na escala Richter. Em coletiva de imprensa, o chanceler Celso Amorim disse que trata como desparecido o brasileiro Luiz Carlos da Costa, que ocupa o segundo maior cargo da representação da ONU (Minustah) no Haiti. Costa é atualmente o brasileiro com posto mais alto nas Nações Unidas. O presidente do Haiti, Rene Preval, afirmou que o chefe da missão de paz da ONU no país, o tunisiano Hedi Annabi, que está desaparecido, morreu no terremoto, mas a ONU ainda não confirma .
O Brasil vai enviar até quinta-feira aviões com ajuda humanitária, carregados de alimentos, roupas e medicamentos. O ministro da Defesa, Nelson Jobim, embarcou nesta quarta-feira. As aeronaves deverão aterrissar na República Dominicana, já que as condições do aeroporto de Porto Príncipe são péssimas, e seguir por terra ao Haiti. O governo haitiano estima que até 50 mil pessoas morreram no país.
- Espero que isso não se confirme, porque espero que as pessoas tenham tido tempo de se salvar - disse o primeiro-ministro Jean-Max Bellerive.
A primeira-dama, Elisabeth Debrosse Delatour, relatou que "a maior parte de Porto Príncipe está destruída" e que muitos prédios do governo desabaram.
A médica pediatra e sanitarista viajara para o Haiti no último domingo a fim de realizar uma palestra na Conferência Nacional dos Religiosos do Caribe. Na quinta-feira, a brasileira teria um encontro com representantes de ONGs e, no dia seguinte, com o arcebispo de Porto Príncipe. No momento do tremor, Zilda estava fazendo uma vistoria, acompanhada de um tenente, em uma área da capital.
A embaixatriz Roseana Teresa Aben-Athar, mulher do embaixador do Brasil no Haiti, foi quem encontrou o corpo de Zilda Arns. Ela localizou o corpo na manhã desta quarta-feira soterrado entre escombros de um prédio onde funcionava um serviço de ajuda humanitária.
Na terça-feira, Zilda teria deixado a embaixada em companhia de um militar e da assessora e ido até o prédio que desabou. Com o terromoto, uma laje do edifício caiu e atingiu a coordenadora da Pastoral da Criança. Ela não resistiu e morreu.
O arcebispo emérito de São Paulo, dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, disse que sua irmã "está no coração de Deus", segundo a secretária pessoal do arcebispo, irmã Devanir.
Entre os mortos - sete deles de um batalhão de Lorena (SP) - estão também: o primeiro-tenente Bruno Ribeiro Mário, o segundo-sargento Davi Ramos de Lima, o soldado Antonio José Anacleto, o soldado Tiago Anaya Detimermani, segundo-sargento Leonardo de Castro Carvalho, cabo Douglas Pedrotti Neckel, cabo Washington Luis de Souza Seraphin, cabo Arí Dirceu Fernandes Júnior, soldado Kleber da Silva Santos, subtenente Raniel Batista de Camargos e coronel Emilio Carlos Torres do Santos.
Segundo o chanceler Celso Amorim disse que trata como desparecido o brasileiro Luiz Carlos da Costa, que ocupa o segundo maior cargo da representação da ONU (Minustah) no Haiti.
Os feridos confirmados até o momento são: o tenente-coronel Alexandre José Santos, da 1ª Brigada de Infantaria de Selva de Boa Vista, Roraima; o capitão Renan Rodrigues de Oliveira, do 6º Batalhão de Infantarias Leves de Caçapaba, São Paulo; o terceiro-sargento Danilo do Nascimento de Oliveira, do 29º Batalhão de Infantarias Leves de Campinas, São Paulo; o cabo Eugênio Pesaresi Netoiane, do 29º Batalhão de Infantarias Leves; e o cabo Welington Sopares Magalhães, do 5º Batalhão de Infantarias Leves.
Militares brasileiros que servem na missão de paz da Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) no Haiti estão desaparecidos. O ministério informa ainda que os brasileiros que participam da Minustah, como é conhecida a missão da ONU, passaram a madrugada desta quarta-feira no trabalho de resgate aos soterrados e ajuda à população local e autoridades haitianas. Ainda não se sabe quantas pessoas morreram, mas estima-se que milhares de pessoas não tenham resistido ao forte tremor .
Prédio da ONU ruiuA sede da missão da ONU na capital ficou totalmente destruída com o abalo sísmico. De acordo com a entidade, pelo menos 14 pessoas morreram nas ruínas do prédio de cinco andares, 56 ficaram feridas e 150 ainda estão desaparecidas. Inicialmente, temia-se que todos que estavam no local estivessem mortos. O chefe da missão das Nações Unidas no Haiti, Hedi Annabi, ainda está desaparecido.
O ministro da Defesa, Nelson Jobim, viajou nesta quarta-feira para Porto Príncipe com militares e o embaixador do Brasil no Haiti, Ygor Kipman. Eles vão avaliar os danos causados pelo terremoto.
O governo brasileiro está enfrentando dificuldades para obter informações, uma vez que os sistemas de telefonia fixa e móvel, além do abastecimento de energia elétrica, estão comprometidos. Por determinação do presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva serão enviados US$ 10 milhões como ajuda humanitária para o Haiti.
Soldados de outros países também estão desaparecidos
O Brasil, que lidera as tropas de paz da ONU no Haiti, participa da Minustah com 1.266 militares. O contingente total da missão é de 9.065 pessoas, sendo 7.031 militares, segundo dados de novembro.
Segundo a mídia estatal da China, 8 soldados chineses da missão de paz morreram e outros 10 estão desaparecidos, depois que um prédio de cinco andares usado pela organização desabou. 
Soldados filipinos também estariam desparecidos. A informação é do coronel Romeo Brawner Jr., das Forças Armdas das Filipinas.
Zilda Arns era capaz de se doar pelos outros
(Miriam Leitão)
O terremoto no Haiti atingiu especialmente a nós porque perdemos brasileiros que estavam lá, do Exército, e a nossa querida Zilda Arns, que é uma grande perda para o país. Eu sempre tive uma enorme admiração por ela, e sempre tive a certeza de estar diante de uma pessoa mais especial que as outras, todas as vezes em que a entrevistei. Ela era mais capaz de se dar aos outros, veio ao mundo como uma pessoa do bem e para o bem.
Zilda Arns salvou vidas de milhares de brasileiros pobres, e depois levou a Pastoral da Criança para vários países do mundo. O primeiro prêmio Faz Diferença, do GLOBO, que foi uma escolha da redação do jornal, foi para ela. A vida dela fez diferença no Brasil e fez diferença no mundo.
Em uma das vezes em que eu a entrevistei, Zilda tinha acabado de perder uma filha de 30 anos. E ela conseguia manter o trabalho de ajudar as pessoas.
Era uma brasileira especial, da qual todos nós devemos ter orgulho.
By SIMON ROMERO and MARC LACEY
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The wailing of survivors pierced the air in pockets of this devastated city on Wednesday as people dug desperately through the rubble of collapsed buildings and piled bodies of the dead on roadsides under white sheets.
Huge swaths of the capital, Port-au-Prince, lay in ruins, and thousands of people were feared dead in the rubble of government buildings, foreign aid offices and shantytowns. Limbs protruded from piles of disintegrated concrete, and muffled cries emanated from deep inside the wrecks of buildings, as this impoverished nation struggled to grasp the grim, still unknown toll from its worst earthquake in more than 200 years.
Scenes of destruction defined the city. Concrete homes collapsed on hillsides. Hospitals overflowed with victims. The Canape Vert hospital was surrounded by collapsed buildings.
With the electricity and phone service out and supplies of fresh water dwindling, The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said Haiti was facing a “major humanitarian emergency.” With 14 United Nations peacekeepers confirmed dead and more than 100 workers missing, the organization was in mourning and flying its own flag at half-staff.
The Haitian president, René Préval, told The Miami Herald that the toll was “unimaginable” and estimated that thousands had died. Among those feared dead were the chief of the United Nations mission in Haiti and Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot, the archbishop of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The quake struck just before 5 p.m. Tuesday about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, ravaging the infrastructure of Haiti’s fragile government and destroying some of its most important cultural symbols. The domed white presidential palace and the cathedral collapsed, the Ministry of Justice was destroyed, and the country’s national prison suffered extensive damage, a United Nations spokesman said.
“Parliament has collapsed,” Mr. Préval was quoted as saying. “The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed. There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them.”
“All of the hospitals are packed with people,” he added. “It is a catastrophe.”
The earthquake left the country in a shambles, tangling efforts to provide relief to an estimated 3 million people who the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said had been affected by the quake.
President Obama promised that Haiti would have the “unwavering support” of the United States.
Mr. Obama said United States aid agencies were moving swiftly to get help to Haiti and that search-and-rescue teams were already en route. He described the reports of destruction as “truly heart-wrenching,” made more cruel given Haiti’s long-troubled circumstances. Mr. Obama did not make a specific aid pledge, and administration officials said they were still trying to figure out what the island needed. But he urged Americans to dig into their pockets and to go to the White House’s Web site, www.whitehouse.gov, to find ways to donate money.
“This is a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share,” Mr. Obama said, speaking in the morning in the White House diplomatic reception room with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at his side.
Aid agencies said they would open their storehouses of food and water inside Haiti, and the World Food Program was flying in nearly 100 tons of ready-to-eat meals and high-energy biscuits from El Salvador. The United Nations said it was freeing up $10 million in emergency relief funds, the European Union pledged $4.4 million, and groups like Doctors Without Borders were setting up clinics in tents and open-air triage centers to treat the injured.
Supplies began filtering in from the Dominican Republic, as charter flights were restarted between Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince.
But efforts to administer emergency services and distribute food and water were halting, and in some places, seemingly nonexistent. A few S.U.V.’s driven by United Nations personnel plied streets clogged with rubble, pedestrians and other vehicles. Fuel shortages emerged as an immediate concern as motorists sought to find gas stations with functioning fuel pumps.
Hundreds of people camped under the shade of trees in the prime minister’s office compound, while others milled about in open spaces, hesitant to return to their homes after the powerful earthquake that struck Tuesday afternoon, followed by seemingly endless aftershocks.
"This is the worst tragedy I have seen in Haiti in my 54 years," said Lubini Hermano, a driver employed by a hotel in the hills above the capital. The hotel, Villa Creole, was deeply damaged but still a focal point, as doctors tended to a flow of injured people who appeared at its gate.
Some aid groups with offices in Haiti’s capital were also busy searching for their own dead and missing.
Five workers with the United Nations mission in Haiti were killed and more than 100 more missing after the office’s headquarters collapsed in one of the deadliest single days for United Nations employees. The Tunisian head of the group’s Haitian mission, Hedi Annabi, and his deputy were among the missing, said Alain LeRoy, the United Nations peacekeeping chief.
Earlier Wednesday, the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said in radio interviews that Mr. Annabi had been killed in the collapse.
The Brazilian Army, which has one of the largest peacekeeping presences in Haiti, said that 11 of its soldiers had been killed in the quake and seven had been injured, with seven more unaccounted for.
In addition to the human toll, the heavy damage sustained by Haiti’s presidential palace and the United Nations headquarters were a blow to the two major symbols of authority in the country.
“The palace was like something out of a fairy tale in a country that had nothing,” said Johanna Mendelson Forman, a former adviser to the United Nations mission, who now works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “It had red carpets and gold ropes. It was a symbol of one of the few institutions that works there, and that’s the presidency.”
On Wednesday the palace looked like a collapsed wedding cake, with its column-lined facade crumpled and its white domed roof caving in.
During a driving tour of the capital Wednesday, Bernice Robertson, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, said she saw at least 30 dead bodies, most covered with plastic bags or sheets. She also witnessed heroic recovery efforts. “There are people digging with their hands, searching for people in the rubble,” she said in an interview by Skype. “There was unimaginable destruction.”
Paul McPhun, operations manager for Doctors Without Borders, described scenes of chaos.
Thoughts and Prayers for Haiti
(The White House Blog)The President gave the following statement tonight:
"My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake. We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti."
The White House also put out this background information: The President was informed of the earthquake at 5:52pm. The President asked his staff to make sure that embassy personnel are safe, and to begin preparations in the event that humanitarian assistance is needed. The Department of State, USAID and the United States Southern Command have begun working to coordinate an assessment and any such assistance.
The State Department has remarks from Secretary Clinton and ways to help:
As Secretary Clinton said earlier, the U.S. government will offer assistance to Haiti and others in the region in the form of civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.
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 to make a contribution to the disaster relief efforts.
We'll provide more details and opportunities to help as we learn more. To stay up-to-date, follow us on state.gov.
Update: Further background from the White House: The President received another update on the situation in Haiti at approximately 8:30 PM from members of his National Security Staff. The President told them that he expects an aggressive, coordinated effort by the U.S. government. Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon convened a meeting in the White House Situation Room at 10:00 PM this evening with senior representatives from: State, USAID, USUN, DOD, SOUTHCOM, JCS, DHS, Coast Guard, and National Security and White House Staff to coordinate the government-wide response, per the President’s request. The President will receive an additional briefing on the situation early tomorrow morning as more information becomes available. Each agency is working overnight to ensure that critical resources are positioned to support the recovery effort, including efforts to find and assist American citizens in Haiti. Both the White House and the State Department are facilitating donations to the International Red Cross through their websites.
Update II: Yet more background, released in the morning: At 7:15 AM today, the President received two memorandums updating him on the earthquake in Haiti. The President received an update from the DHS National Operations Center (NOC), as well as a memo from the National Security Advisor which described further background, key decisions that have been made, and actions that have already been taken. Currently, the President is receiving an additional update from his National Security Staff. The President will speak about the situation in Haiti at approximately 10:00 AM this morning.
Earthquake Hits Haiti, Community Feels Powerless
Leaders in the Haitian community felt powerless as yet another calamity has hit their native country. With no communication to Haiti in the last three yours, people called each other to see if anyone had heard anything.
The suspense is sending a chill as people try to imagine the extent of this catastrophe.
Four hours ago, a major earthquake shook the capital city to its core and left Port-au-Prince into a smoke haze.
At this moment, the number of death and people injured are not known. People could be heard screaming and crying. The metropolitan area is home to two million people in an area originally planned for 200,000. Houses are poorly constructed with lax codes, if any.
“The earthquake registered at 7.0- with an aftershock of 5.9. The palace has been severely damaged said, Frank Williams, national director for World Vision in Haiti.
“This is a catastrophe of major proportions, said Raymond Joseph, Haitian ambassador to the United States, on CNN The Situation Room. “The place is really bad now.”
Joseph made a plea for the world to come to Haiti’s rescue at this moment of intense grief.
An Associated Press videographer saw the wrecked hospital in Petionville, near Port-au-Prince, and a U.S. government official reported seeing houses that had tumbled into a ravine.
Don Blakeman, an analyst at the USGS in Golden, Colorado, said such a strong quake carried the potential for widespread damage.
"I think we are going to see substantial damage and casualties," he said.
Blakeman said Haiti had already been hit by many aftershocks, the two largest registering magnitude 5.9 and 5.5.
"We expect more aftershocks because this is a large, shallow earthquake," he said.
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