Hurry relief to Haiti

In the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Haiti, it was hard to find coordinated relief efforts for that disaster online. That may be because humanitarian relief services are too busy scrambling to rush help to the site, even trying to establish communications where it seems to have been totally knocked out.

“At least 1.8 million people live within the area where the magnitude-7 quake was most intense, John Bellini, a geophysicist at the USGS, told The Wall Street Journal. “With a strong and shallow earthquake like this in such a populated area, it could really cause substantial damage,” he said.

“Nightfall and the chaos after the quake made it too early to estimate the extent of the casualties. Disaster specialists said various mathematical models for an earthquake of such magnitude in Haiti predict that as many as 4,000 people could have been killed….

“The Greek Ambassador to Venezuela, Efstathios Daras, who is also representing Greece in Haiti said: “We fear major loss of life, maybe in the thousands or tens of thousands.” He described reports of victims trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

“Survivors are using their hands to help get trapped people out. There are fears of big aftershocks which could make the situation even worse. There is huge damage to the infrastructure. We can’t get through anymore. All phone lines are down.”

So at times like this, we can at least turn to the reputable organizations whose mission it is always to be where people are suffering and in urgent need of relief.

Here is one.