Cablegate: Haiti Earthquake: One Week Later

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SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV PINR PREL PREF HA
SUBJECT: Haiti Earthquake: One Week Later

REF: PORT A 0054; PORT A 0058; PORT A 0060

1. (U) Summary. Seven days after the earthquake, search and rescue
teams continued to conduct live rescues in Port-au-Prince. The
U.N. World Food Program (WFP) has released a food assistance plan
for Haiti, detailing anticipated needs and response.
Representatives from USAID's Disaster Assistance Response Team
(USAID/DART) returned from a trip to Carrefour Feuilles - a
neighbor of Port-au-Prince. The team reported that, although last
week's earthquake caused widespread death and destruction in the
area, a degree of normalcy has returned for earthquake survivors,
with shops reopening and people walking the streets. End Summary.

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SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS

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2. (U) To the surprise of many, urban search and rescue (USAR)
teams continued to perform live rescues one week after the
earthquake struck. On January 19, U.S. USAR teams rescued two
young children from the rubble, who survived seven days without
food or water. In addition, just before midnight on January 19,
U.S. USAR teams assisted a French team in the extrication of a
Haitian woman from a collapsed supermarket in Port-au-Prince's Bois
Verna neighborhood.

3. (U) Due to new reporting of old rescues, on January 19, the
United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team upward
revised the number of total rescues in Haiti to 122 people,
including the most recent U.S. and French rescues.

4. (U) To date, USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance
(USAID/OFDA) has provided more than $36 million in support of
American search and rescue teams deployed to Haiti, in addition to
annual funding for the fire departments of Fairfax and Los Angeles
counties for USAR activities.

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STORAGE OF RELIEF COMMODITIES

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5. (U) According to non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
participating in the U.N. Shelter/Non-food Item Cluster lead,
finding adequate storage for relief items is becoming increasingly
difficult, due to security concerns and the planned reopening of
several businesses in Sonapi, an industrial area in Port-au-Prince
currently used for relief supplies. NGOs note that, although the
reopening of factories is a positive development that contributes
to post-earthquake economic recovery, few locations currently exist
that provide similar security and storage capacity.

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FOOD ASSISTANCE

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6. (U) WFP, a partner of USAID's Office of Food for Peace,
estimates that up to 2 million people require food assistance in
Haiti. Prior to the most recent natural disaster, an estimated 1.8
million Haitians were reported to be food insecure. Note: WFP's
estimated 2-million person total caseload includes both
food-insecure and earthquake-affected populations.

7. (U) At present, WFP is distributing three to five-day rations
of high-energy biscuits (HEBs) and meals ready-to-eat (MRE) to
affected populations. The recently released WFP Emergency
Operation (EMOP) for Haiti (a food assistance plan) indicates that
earthquake-affected populations have limited access to storage,
cooking facilities, and clean water - necessitating the provision
of food that does not require preparation.

8. (U) Following the one-week emergency ration, WFP will
transition to 60 days of general food distribution - using
food-for-work activities, when possible, to rehabilitate streets
and public buildings. In the coming month, WFP also expects
improved access to affected neighborhoods, increased water
tankering, and the provision of shelters and kitchen sets to
support a transition to dry rations in some neighborhoods and
community kitchens in others.

9. (U) According to unofficial tallies, between January 14 and 19,
the WFP distributed food to nearly 200,000 beneficiaries in
earthquake-affected areas. However, official WFP reports for the
same time period indicate a lower beneficiary number of
approximately 135,500 people.

10. (U) On January 18, the WFP delivered food to a total of 77,841
beneficiaries in earthquake-affected areas, including 57,259 people
in Leogane, nearly 10,000 people Cite Soleil, 7,056 people in
Cazeau, and 3,538 people in Jacmel. On January 19, although nearly
9,900 people in and around Jacmel received food assistance, WFP was
unable to deliver food to a significant portion of the planned
caseload in Port-au-Prince and Carrefour, principally due to a lack
of trucks. Note: Food delivery in Jacmel has been facilitated by
U.S. Military aerial transport; on January 19, U.S. Department of
Defense Black Hawks conducted six sorties from the Port-au-Prince
airport to Jacmel, delivering eight metric tons of food to WFP for
forward distribution.

11. (U) To temporarily resolve WFP's transportation issues,
USAID/OFDA has contracted six large dump trucks and drivers for 15
days to be used for food distribution. On January 20, WFP intended
use the USAID/OFDA-provided trucks to distribute food for 104,665
beneficiaries in and around Port-au-Prince. However, the U.N.
Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was unable to provide
sufficient security escorts. Therefore, WFP is not expected to
reach the targeted beneficiary caseload for January 20. WFP
indicated that the USAID/OFDA-provided trucks will be utilized,
starting January 21, as long as security escorts are available.

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VISIT TO CARREFOUR FEUILLES

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12. (SBU) On January 19, USAID/DART members traveled to observe
several of the scheduled WFP food distributions in and around
Port-au-Prince (ref: paragraph 11). In a discussion with
USAID/DART staff, WFP relayed anecdotal evidence of problems
encountered at recent food distributions. The most pronounced
incident was on one in which, WFP arrived ill prepared for a food
distribution in Carrefour Feuilles, one of Port-au-Prince's
southernmost neighborhoods. Due to inaccurate information, WFP
transported commodities for 5,000 people, but 20,000 people arrived
to collect food rations. To resolve the situation, WFP reduced the
per person ration from a five-day supply to a three-day supply.

13. (SBU) USAID/DART members report that the earthquake
"decimated" most of the neighborhood - observing few houses that
appeared to be inhabitable. In addition, the team reported that
bodies of the deceased have been placed in stacks along the
streets, with animals beginning to feed on some of them. However,
despite the visible damage and casualties in Carrefour Feuilles,
USAID/DART members reported that the area seemed to be returning to
some degree of normalcy, observing individuals bathing on the side
of the road and children playing kickball in the street, in
addition to several open markets and stalls along the sidewalk.
MERTEN

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