The human and physical damage caused by the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti yesterday looks to be absolutely devastating. By some accounts the entire capital of Port-Au-Prince is leveled. The presidential palace and UN mission headquarters are gone. The prime minister believes the death-toll has already surpassed 100,000, while a leading senator says the final number could be over 500,000. The problem in a country like Haiti, as they both acknowledged, is that we may never really know. The tsunami in 2004 was a level of natural destruction we had never seen in modern times, and judging by the early indications this earthquake could surpass it in a much more concentrated area.
For any of our readers in the United States who are wondering how they can assist the relief effort, I have found two prominent and active organizations moving provide immediate relief to Haiti: the American Red Cross' International Response Fund, which is pledging an immediate effort of at least $200,000, and UNICEF's US page, an organization that focuses on the most vulnerable in a crisis like this, the children.
I encourage everyone to look into how they can help the situation in Haiti, however small or remote that effort might be.
Correction: The American Red Cross has pledged an initial $1 million, far more than the $200,00 figure I found this morning. Also, if you are in the US and want to donate $10 to the Red Cross' Haiti effort, you can text message the word 'Haiti' to 90999. The donation will be reflected as a charge on your cell phone bill.
