As rescuers rushed to find survivors under the rubble ahead of a probable deluge from an impending tropical cyclone, the death toll from a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Haiti rose to at least 1,297 on Sunday.
At least 2,800 people were injured in the Caribbean nation's earthquake on Saturday, with thousands more homeless from their wrecked or damaged houses. Survivors in some regions were forced to take refuge in the streets or soccer fields with their few rescued belongings, as overburdened hospitals rushed to help the injured.
Earthquake rescue ahead of impending tropical storm
However, Tropical Depression Grace, which is expected to hit Haiti on Monday night, might exacerbate the destruction. Grace was reduced to a depression by the US National Hurricane Center on Sunday, but forecasters cautioned that it still presented a hazard of heavy rain, floods, and landslides.
The earthquake occurred in the southern region of the poorest country in the hemisphere, nearly razing several towns and causing landslides that hindered rescue operations in a country already dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, a presidential assassination, and a surge of gang violence. According to the US Geological Survey, the epicenter was roughly 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, and aftershocks continued to shake the area on Sunday.
Per PIX11, some residents in the heavily devastated seaside hamlet of Les Cayes rescued their few possessions and slept on an open-air football pitch. At a local street market on Sunday morning, people queued up to buy what little was available.
The earthquake occurred barely over a month after President Jovenel Mose was assassinated in his house, causing political turmoil in the country. Martine Mose, who was badly injured in the attack, took to Twitter to appeal for unity among Haitians, saying, "Let's put our shoulders together to bring solidarity."
As he boarded an aircraft destined for Les Cayes, Henry expressed his desire for "structured solidarity" to guarantee a coordinated response, avoiding the chaos that followed the deadly 2010 earthquake, when help was sluggish to reach people. President Joe Biden has ordered an urgent response and designated Samantha Power, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to lead the US strategy to help Haiti.
The US, nearby nations immediately send help to Haiti
On Sunday, Power said that the USAID was deploying a search and rescue team from Virginia to Haiti at the request of the Haitian government. According to Power, the 65-person team would bring specialized tools and medical supplies to help with the catastrophe response.
A helicopter was bringing medical professionals from the Haitian capital to the quake zone and transferring the injured back to Port-au-Prince, according to the US Coast Guard, which is working with USAID. A spokesperson, Lt. Commander Jason Nieman, said another helicopter was being dispatched from the Bahamas, along with additional planes and ships.
Hotels, hospitals, churches, and schools were severely damaged or destroyed; and the powerful tremors that shook Haiti ripped the walls of a jail apart. Rescuers in red hard helmets and blue overalls retrieved bodies from the tangled debris of one structure in Les Cayes, a seaside town of 90,000 people, as a yellow motorized excavator nearby worked to shift the rubble. According to local officials, there are only approximately 30 doctors for a population of one million people.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry said at a news conference on Sunday morning that officials have begun to send medications and medical personnel to the affected facilities, and that "we have evacuated a certain number of people who need quick special care, and we will evacuate some more today and tomorrow."
Former Senator Herve Foucand was using his tiny propeller plane to carry passengers to Haiti's capital, which was not as badly devastated as Les Cayes, to help. Nearby nations such as the Dominican Republic and Mexico hurried to bring urgently needed food and medications across Haiti's land border by air and land, Daily Mail reported.
The earthquake ruptured the town's subterranean pipes, resulting in floods, landslides, and the closure of the major route into Jeremie, hampering rescue operations. People in the town sought to line up on Sunday morning to buy what little was available, including avocados, bananas, and water, as per the Associated Press.
Related Article: 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Haiti, More Powerful Than in 2010
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