In Show of Support, Clinton Goes to Haiti
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and President René Préval of Haiti spoke to reporters. More Photos >
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By MARK LANDLER
Published: January 16, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Bearing soap, bottled water and other much-needed supplies, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew into this ruined capital on Saturday and told the Haitian people that the United States "will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead."
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As the United States struggles to organize a relief effort for a barely functioning Haitian government, Mrs. Clinton said she was here at the invitation of the country's president and came in large part to hear his thoughts on what was needed.
Mrs. Clinton arrived shortly before 3 p.m. on a Coast Guard cargo plane that also carried American relief workers. She met for an hour with the Haitian president, René Préval, and with American officials managing an immense rescue effort that is racing against the clock to unearth any remaining survivors.
"We are here at the invitation of your government to help you," she said to Haitian journalists outside a makeshift headquarters.
"I know of the great resilience and strength of the Haitian people," said Mrs. Clinton, who in the past visited the country with her husband when they were newlyweds. "You have been severely tested, but I believe that Haiti can come back even stronger and better in the future."
Mr. Préval, in shirtsleeves, his black shoes coated with dust, expressed gratitude to President Obama for his initial pledge of $100 million in American aid, as well as for organizing a national fund-raising campaign.
"Mrs. Clinton's visit really warms our heart today," Mr. Préval said over a din of helicopters landing on a nearby runway, "but especially to restate the priorities and the needs and the coordination that needs to be done."
Though the visit is mainly intended as a show of American support for Haiti, Mrs. Clinton said there were a few tangible benefits. In addition to bringing in supplies, her C-130 plane evacuated 50 Haitian Americans who were stranded here — including a baby who was sleeping soundly in a crib before takeoff despite the roar of the aircraft engines.
She was also able to deliver some goods to American diplomats. The night before her flight, Mrs. Clinton's senior staff members prowled the aisles of supermarkets and drug stores buying bulk supplies of toothpaste, mustard, even cigarettes.
Although Mrs. Clinton said that the relief effort was gaining traction, she cautioned that the security situation was growing troubling. She said she hoped the Haitian government would pass an emergency decree — something it did after storms devastated the island in 2008 — which would give it the legal power to impose curfews and other measures.
"The decree would give the government an enormous amount of authority, which in practice they would delegate to us," Mrs. Clinton said.
Mrs. Clinton said she was concerned by a report on CNN that a group of Miami doctors at a makeshift hospital here had been forced to flee, leaving behind their patients, after gunshots were heard in the vicinity. With Haiti's police force decimated and barely visible on the streets, 7,000 United Nations peacekeepers constitute the only genuine security presence.
"We are working to back them up, but not to supplant them," she said. Up to 10,000 American troops are expected to be in place in Haiti, on shore and off, by Monday.
She said the peacekeepers "have been here for years; they have a command and control established."
Mrs. Clinton also said she was sensitive to the suggestion that her visit could impede rescue efforts. She did not leave the airport during her four-hour stop, canceling a visit to United Nations peacekeeping headquarters.
The secretary of state was accompanied by Rajiv Shah, the new administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, who is coordinating the American relief effort, and Cheryl D. Mills, Mrs. Clinton's chief of staff, who oversees Haiti issues at the State Department.
Herby Derenoncourt, a Haitian doctor with Catholic Relief Services who lives in the United States, was able to ride on the secretary of state's plane. He came to help restore a damaged Catholic hospital here.
Dominic Crowley, the emergency director of the charity Concern Worldwide who was also on the flight, said he was going to check on his staff of 100 in Haiti, of whom 19 members were still missing. The group is handing out clothing, water and other goods. "Agencies with teams on the ground have been as traumatized as anyone else," he said.
Some of the tasks the United States faces are particularly grim, like helping set up morgues. There are deep cultural issues about treatment of the dead, Mrs. Clinton said, which will complicate the task.
Mrs. Clinton said it would be some time before Haiti had a functioning central government; some government buildings are gone, and some officials are dead.
"We have to be realistic about it," she said.
Mrs. Clinton last visited Haiti in April, pledging $300 million in United States aid and venturing into Cité Soleil, a once-lawless part of the capital that had been improving before the quake.
A few months ago, she noted, her husband, who is the United Nations special envoy to Haiti, held a successful conference in Port-au-Prince, attracting 500 foreign companies.
And then, she said, "This happens."
Correction: January 17, 2010
An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of Herby Derenoncourt.
Officials Strain to Distribute Aid to Haiti as Violence Rises
Damon Winter/The New York Times
People fled gunshots that rang out in downtown Port-au-Prince on Saturday, where the needy were growing desperate. More Photos >
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By GINGER THOMPSON and DAMIEN CAVE
Published: January 16, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As the focus on Saturday turned away from Haitians lost to those trying to survive, a sprawling assembly of international officials and aid workers struggled to fix a troubled relief effort after Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
Multimedia
Photographs
Crime Rises as Aid Awaits Distribution
Interactive Feature
Before and After: The Destruction in Port-Au-Prince
Video
Haiti Quake Day 5: Hunger Frays Nerves
Video
Refugee Camp Swells With Injured (NBC)
Video
Responders Race to Treat Victims (NBC)
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Looting Flares Where Authority Breaks Down (January 17, 2010)
Quake Ignores Class Divisions of a Poor Land (January 17, 2010)
A Presidential Triple Plea for Haiti Fund (January 17, 2010)
In Show of Support, Clinton Goes to Haiti (January 17, 2010)
Haiti in Ink and Tears: A Literary Sampler (January 17, 2010)
Haiti Disaster Relief: How to Contribute | Tips on Donating
Interactive: The Missing | Connecting to Those Affected
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Is the U.S. Doing Enough for Haiti?
What are America's obligations to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake?
Join the Discussion »
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
Read All Comments (323) »
While countries and relief agencies showered aid on Haiti, only a small part of it was reaching increasingly desperate Haitians without food, water or shelter. "We see all the commotion, but we still have nothing to drink," said Joel Querette, 23, a college student camped out in a park. "The trucks are going by."
Hunger drove many to swarm places where food was being given out. Reports of isolated looting and violence intensified as night approached, and there were reports of Haitians streaming out of the capital.
Still, recovery and aid efforts were widening. And even the distribution problems in the country stemmed in part from good intentions, aid officials said: Countries around the world were responding to Haiti's call for help as never before. And they are flooding the country with supplies and relief workers that its collapsed infrastructure and nonfunctioning government are in no position to handle.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Port-au-Prince, met with President René Préval for an hour and assured Haitians that the United States "will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead." And in Washington, President Obama stood with former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who will lead a national drive to raise money to help the survivors.
But with Haitian officials relying so heavily on the United States, the United Nations and many different aid groups, coordination was posing a critical challenge. An airport hobbled by only one suitable runway, a ruined port whose main pier splintered into the ocean, roads blocked by rubble, widespread fuel shortages and a lack of drivers to move the aid into the city are compounding the problems.
About 1,700 people camped on the grass in front of the prime minister's office compound in the Pétionville neighborhood, pleading for biscuits and water-purification tablets distributed by aid groups. A sign on one fallen building in Nazon, one of many hillside communities destroyed by the quake, read: "Welcome U.S. Marines. We need help. Dead Bodies Inside!"
Haitian officials said the bodies of tens of thousands of victims had already been recovered and that hundreds of thousands of people were living on the streets. A preliminary Red Cross estimate put the total number of affected people at 3.5 million.
The United Nations also confirmed the death of three of its most senior officials in the quake: the secretary general's special representative for Haiti, Hédi Annabi; his deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa; and the acting police commissioner for the peacekeeping force, Doug Coates of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They were meeting with eight members of a Chinese police delegation in the agency's headquarters, the Christopher Hotel, when it collapsed on Tuesday.
Even as the United States took a leading role in aid efforts, some aid officials were describing misplaced priorities, accusing United States officials of focusing their efforts on getting their people and troops installed and lifting their citizens out. Under agreement with Haiti, the United States is now managing air traffic control at the airport, helicopters are flying relief missions from warships off the coast and 9,000 to 10,000 troops are expected to arrive by Monday to help with the relief effort.
The World Food Program finally was able to land flights of food, medicine and water on Saturday, after failing on Thursday and Friday, an official with the agency said. Those flights had been diverted so that the United States could land troops and equipment, and lift Americans and other foreigners to safety.
"There are 200 flights going in and out every day, which is an incredible amount for a country like Haiti," said Jarry Emmanuel, the air logistics officer for the agency's Haiti effort. "But most of those flights are for the United States military.
He added: "Their priorities are to secure the country. Ours are to feed. We have got to get those priorities in sync."
In a notice over the weekend, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said priority would be given to search and rescue, military and humanitarian aircraft, in that order. Flights were being routed through a command center at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and pilots must tell controllers what they have on board and when they would like to arrive.
American officials said they were making substantial progress. Mrs. Clinton said the military was beginning to use a container port in Cap Haitien, in northern Haiti, which should increase the flow of aid.
The United States Agency for International Development was helping choose sites and clear roads for 14 centers for the distribution of food and water. Rajiv Shah, the agency's administrator, said the United States had moved $48 million of food supplies from Texas since the quake and distributed 600,000 packaged meals. It has also installed three water-purification systems capable of purifying 100,000 liters a day.
Yet problems remain. American officials said that 180 tons of relief supplies had been delivered to the airport, but much was still waiting for delivery. While the military has cleared other landing sites for helicopters around the capital, they are thronged by people looking for help, making landings hazardous.
Damon Winter/The New York Times
People fled gunshots that rang out in downtown Port-au-Prince on Saturday, where the needy were growing desperate. More Photos >
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By GINGER THOMPSON and DAMIEN CAVE
Published: January 16, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As the focus on Saturday turned away from Haitians lost to those trying to survive, a sprawling assembly of international officials and aid workers struggled to fix a troubled relief effort after Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
Multimedia
Photographs
Crime Rises as Aid Awaits Distribution
Interactive Feature
Before and After: The Destruction in Port-Au-Prince
Video
Haiti Quake Day 5: Hunger Frays Nerves
Video
Refugee Camp Swells With Injured (NBC)
Video
Responders Race to Treat Victims (NBC)
Related
Looting Flares Where Authority Breaks Down (January 17, 2010)
Quake Ignores Class Divisions of a Poor Land (January 17, 2010)
A Presidential Triple Plea for Haiti Fund (January 17, 2010)
In Show of Support, Clinton Goes to Haiti (January 17, 2010)
Haiti in Ink and Tears: A Literary Sampler (January 17, 2010)
Haiti Disaster Relief: How to Contribute | Tips on Donating
Interactive: The Missing | Connecting to Those Affected
More Haiti Quake Multimedia
Is the U.S. Doing Enough for Haiti?
What are America's obligations to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake?
Join the Discussion »
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
Read All Comments (323) »
While countries and relief agencies showered aid on Haiti, only a small part of it was reaching increasingly desperate Haitians without food, water or shelter. "We see all the commotion, but we still have nothing to drink," said Joel Querette, 23, a college student camped out in a park. "The trucks are going by."
Hunger drove many to swarm places where food was being given out. Reports of isolated looting and violence intensified as night approached, and there were reports of Haitians streaming out of the capital.
Still, recovery and aid efforts were widening. And even the distribution problems in the country stemmed in part from good intentions, aid officials said: Countries around the world were responding to Haiti's call for help as never before. And they are flooding the country with supplies and relief workers that its collapsed infrastructure and nonfunctioning government are in no position to handle.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Port-au-Prince, met with President René Préval for an hour and assured Haitians that the United States "will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead." And in Washington, President Obama stood with former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who will lead a national drive to raise money to help the survivors.
But with Haitian officials relying so heavily on the United States, the United Nations and many different aid groups, coordination was posing a critical challenge. An airport hobbled by only one suitable runway, a ruined port whose main pier splintered into the ocean, roads blocked by rubble, widespread fuel shortages and a lack of drivers to move the aid into the city are compounding the problems.
About 1,700 people camped on the grass in front of the prime minister's office compound in the Pétionville neighborhood, pleading for biscuits and water-purification tablets distributed by aid groups. A sign on one fallen building in Nazon, one of many hillside communities destroyed by the quake, read: "Welcome U.S. Marines. We need help. Dead Bodies Inside!"
Haitian officials said the bodies of tens of thousands of victims had already been recovered and that hundreds of thousands of people were living on the streets. A preliminary Red Cross estimate put the total number of affected people at 3.5 million.
The United Nations also confirmed the death of three of its most senior officials in the quake: the secretary general's special representative for Haiti, Hédi Annabi; his deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa; and the acting police commissioner for the peacekeeping force, Doug Coates of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They were meeting with eight members of a Chinese police delegation in the agency's headquarters, the Christopher Hotel, when it collapsed on Tuesday.
Even as the United States took a leading role in aid efforts, some aid officials were describing misplaced priorities, accusing United States officials of focusing their efforts on getting their people and troops installed and lifting their citizens out. Under agreement with Haiti, the United States is now managing air traffic control at the airport, helicopters are flying relief missions from warships off the coast and 9,000 to 10,000 troops are expected to arrive by Monday to help with the relief effort.
The World Food Program finally was able to land flights of food, medicine and water on Saturday, after failing on Thursday and Friday, an official with the agency said. Those flights had been diverted so that the United States could land troops and equipment, and lift Americans and other foreigners to safety.
"There are 200 flights going in and out every day, which is an incredible amount for a country like Haiti," said Jarry Emmanuel, the air logistics officer for the agency's Haiti effort. "But most of those flights are for the United States military.
He added: "Their priorities are to secure the country. Ours are to feed. We have got to get those priorities in sync."
In a notice over the weekend, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said priority would be given to search and rescue, military and humanitarian aircraft, in that order. Flights were being routed through a command center at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and pilots must tell controllers what they have on board and when they would like to arrive.
American officials said they were making substantial progress. Mrs. Clinton said the military was beginning to use a container port in Cap Haitien, in northern Haiti, which should increase the flow of aid.
The United States Agency for International Development was helping choose sites and clear roads for 14 centers for the distribution of food and water. Rajiv Shah, the agency's administrator, said the United States had moved $48 million of food supplies from Texas since the quake and distributed 600,000 packaged meals. It has also installed three water-purification systems capable of purifying 100,000 liters a day.
Yet problems remain. American officials said that 180 tons of relief supplies had been delivered to the airport, but much was still waiting for delivery. While the military has cleared other landing sites for helicopters around the capital, they are thronged by people looking for help, making landings hazardous.
Fuel shortages were mounting. At several gas stations around Port-au-Prince, attendants or customers said that even though the stations had fuel left in their tanks, there was no electricity to work the pumps.
Multimedia
Photographs
Crime Rises as Aid Awaits Distribution
Interactive Feature
Before and After: The Destruction in Port-Au-Prince
Video
Haiti Quake Day 5: Hunger Frays Nerves
Video
Refugee Camp Swells With Injured (NBC)
Video
Responders Race to Treat Victims (NBC)
Related
Looting Flares Where Authority Breaks Down (January 17, 2010)
Quake Ignores Class Divisions of a Poor Land (January 17, 2010)
A Presidential Triple Plea for Haiti Fund (January 17, 2010)
In Show of Support, Clinton Goes to Haiti (January 17, 2010)
Haiti in Ink and Tears: A Literary Sampler (January 17, 2010)
Haiti Disaster Relief: How to Contribute | Tips on Donating
Interactive: The Missing | Connecting to Those Affected
More Haiti Quake Multimedia
Is the U.S. Doing Enough for Haiti?
What are America's obligations to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake?
Join the Discussion »
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
Read All Comments (323) »
Some aid workers were critical of the United Nations, as well, arguing that the agency had the most on-the-ground experience in Haiti and should be directing efforts better.
But many United Nations employees were killed in the earthquake. And Stephanie Bunker, the spokeswoman for the United Nations humanitarian relief effort, said Saturday that a United Nations logistics team was trying to coordinate with other agencies, and that the peacekeeping forces were trying to clear roads.
Criticism of the United Nations "may reflect people's frustrations with the entire effort because it is such a grueling effort," she said. "It takes a long time for all this stuff to be cleared up and fixed." She noted that all modes of transportation — air, road and sea — were still limited. A shortage of trucks remained a problem.
Michel Chancy, appointed by Mr. Préval to coordinate relief, said that much of the aid to Haiti was coming to a government that was itself under siege.
"The palace fell," he said. "Ministries fell. And not only that, the homes of many ministers fell. The police were not coming to work. Relief agencies collapsed. The U.N. collapsed. It was hard to get ourselves in a place where we could help others."
At the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince, American rescue teams continued to roll out of the gate. Most of their equipment had arrived, and at any given time, the teams were working on several different piles of rubble throughout the city.
"People need to get the message, we're out, we're doing stuff," said Craig Luecke, a coordinator with the search and rescue team from Fairfax County, Va., who has been tracking American efforts in advance of Mrs. Clinton's arrival here. "My Google Earth map is filled with American activity."
Though the numbers are fluid, he said four American teams had helped pulled nearly two dozen survivors from the rubble. The State Department said 15 Americans were confirmed dead in the earthquake.
Some airplanes, after circling the capital's airport, have been turning back or landing in Santo Domingo, in the neighboring Dominican Republic. Its airfield was growing ever more crowded with diverted flights.
"We're all going crazy," said Nan Buzard, senior director of international response and programs for the American Red Cross. "You don't have any kind of orderly distributions of food, water, shelter, clothing. The planes are in the air, the materials are purchased. It remains a profoundly frustrating situation for everyone."
Among the aid groups avoiding the logjam in Port-au-Prince by entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic was International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
A caravan of eight trucks from the federation was creeping toward the Haitian border on Saturday morning, carrying medical equipment and aid workers.
The group had originally planned to touch down in Haiti, but the delays at the airport forced them to divert to Santo Domingo, delaying their arrival in Haiti by about 12 hours, said Paul Conneally, a Red Cross spokesman who was traveling with the convoy.
"Every minute counts, I know that, but we cannot be on standby to land at Port-au-Prince because it may not be for two or three days," he said. "It's problematic to go across roads, but it's a small price to pay."
Mr. Préval, speaking at the airport, now the effective seat of the Haitian government, urged patience. He showed a map covered with red dots, indicating the worst-hit areas. When the earthquake struck, he said, "We in Haiti thought it was the end of the world."
Mr. Préval said he was making food, water, medical supplies and the re-establishment of communication the priorities for his government. "We have a lot of work to do," he said.
Multimedia
Photographs
Crime Rises as Aid Awaits Distribution
Interactive Feature
Before and After: The Destruction in Port-Au-Prince
Video
Haiti Quake Day 5: Hunger Frays Nerves
Video
Refugee Camp Swells With Injured (NBC)
Video
Responders Race to Treat Victims (NBC)
Related
Looting Flares Where Authority Breaks Down (January 17, 2010)
Quake Ignores Class Divisions of a Poor Land (January 17, 2010)
A Presidential Triple Plea for Haiti Fund (January 17, 2010)
In Show of Support, Clinton Goes to Haiti (January 17, 2010)
Haiti in Ink and Tears: A Literary Sampler (January 17, 2010)
Haiti Disaster Relief: How to Contribute | Tips on Donating
Interactive: The Missing | Connecting to Those Affected
More Haiti Quake Multimedia
Is the U.S. Doing Enough for Haiti?
What are America's obligations to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake?
Join the Discussion »
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
Read All Comments (323) »
Some aid workers were critical of the United Nations, as well, arguing that the agency had the most on-the-ground experience in Haiti and should be directing efforts better.
But many United Nations employees were killed in the earthquake. And Stephanie Bunker, the spokeswoman for the United Nations humanitarian relief effort, said Saturday that a United Nations logistics team was trying to coordinate with other agencies, and that the peacekeeping forces were trying to clear roads.
Criticism of the United Nations "may reflect people's frustrations with the entire effort because it is such a grueling effort," she said. "It takes a long time for all this stuff to be cleared up and fixed." She noted that all modes of transportation — air, road and sea — were still limited. A shortage of trucks remained a problem.
Michel Chancy, appointed by Mr. Préval to coordinate relief, said that much of the aid to Haiti was coming to a government that was itself under siege.
"The palace fell," he said. "Ministries fell. And not only that, the homes of many ministers fell. The police were not coming to work. Relief agencies collapsed. The U.N. collapsed. It was hard to get ourselves in a place where we could help others."
At the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince, American rescue teams continued to roll out of the gate. Most of their equipment had arrived, and at any given time, the teams were working on several different piles of rubble throughout the city.
"People need to get the message, we're out, we're doing stuff," said Craig Luecke, a coordinator with the search and rescue team from Fairfax County, Va., who has been tracking American efforts in advance of Mrs. Clinton's arrival here. "My Google Earth map is filled with American activity."
Though the numbers are fluid, he said four American teams had helped pulled nearly two dozen survivors from the rubble. The State Department said 15 Americans were confirmed dead in the earthquake.
Some airplanes, after circling the capital's airport, have been turning back or landing in Santo Domingo, in the neighboring Dominican Republic. Its airfield was growing ever more crowded with diverted flights.
"We're all going crazy," said Nan Buzard, senior director of international response and programs for the American Red Cross. "You don't have any kind of orderly distributions of food, water, shelter, clothing. The planes are in the air, the materials are purchased. It remains a profoundly frustrating situation for everyone."
Among the aid groups avoiding the logjam in Port-au-Prince by entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic was International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
A caravan of eight trucks from the federation was creeping toward the Haitian border on Saturday morning, carrying medical equipment and aid workers.
The group had originally planned to touch down in Haiti, but the delays at the airport forced them to divert to Santo Domingo, delaying their arrival in Haiti by about 12 hours, said Paul Conneally, a Red Cross spokesman who was traveling with the convoy.
"Every minute counts, I know that, but we cannot be on standby to land at Port-au-Prince because it may not be for two or three days," he said. "It's problematic to go across roads, but it's a small price to pay."
Mr. Préval, speaking at the airport, now the effective seat of the Haitian government, urged patience. He showed a map covered with red dots, indicating the worst-hit areas. When the earthquake struck, he said, "We in Haiti thought it was the end of the world."
Mr. Préval said he was making food, water, medical supplies and the re-establishment of communication the priorities for his government. "We have a lot of work to do," he said.
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