"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG
AND CARRYING A CROSS." -SINCLAIR LEWIS

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Haiti Earthquake

This kind of tragedy is the last thing these people needed:

A major earthquake struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, knocking down buildings and power lines and inflicting what its ambassador to the United States called a catastrophe for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

Several eyewitnesses reported heavy damage and bodies in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where concrete-block homes line steep hillsides. There was no estimate of the dead and wounded Tuesday evening, but the U.S. State Department has been told to expect "serious loss of life," department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.

The precision of casualty estimates is hard to verify at this early hour but officials have put them anywhere between 100,000 and 500,000 individuals. If you have any family members in Haiti the U.S. State Department has set up this toll-free number to call: 1-888-407-4747. If you have any spare cash you can donate to the relief efforts you can do so through various reputable aid organizations at this link. Please help out if you can.

[Update: Who didn't see this one coming?


Pat Robertson should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell.]

4 comments:

magpie said...

I heard an interview with a New Zealander who's there. She knows exactly where members of her family are, under rubble and possibly alive, but there are no emergency services.
There maybe thousands who are in that situation.
Cannot imagine the anguish.

Leslie Parsley said...

Great minds think alike. ; )

Related to this: I just posted a link to CBS which has a list of 36 safe charities and some FBI warnings about scammers who send emails asking for donations. If you mind this, feel free to delete.

Anonymous said...

I still have yet to see anything on the news about this Haiti stuff (I know it's there, but we don't have cable and I don't make time for TV), but thie death toll you reference makes me question my (sincere) life goal of experiencing and living through an earthquake.

JBW said...

I've experienced many, one L. If you want a real thrill I've heard that tsunamis are the way to go.