Haiti: Josh Shahryar's LiveBlog of Latest Developments

Throughout the night, EA's Josh Shahryar has been covering the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake on his blog:

03:11 GMT

More efforts to help Haitians, LA Times reports:

“Amazon.com has added a box on its home page that customers can click to donate to the Haiti relief efforts of Mercy Corps, and anyone with a cell phone can donate $10 to the American Red Cross by sending a text message with the word “HAITI” to 90999.

Bank of America Corp. will give $1 million and the Walmart Foundation $600,000 to help victims of the earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday, American Airlines is flying in relief supplies and grocers and other companies are donating funds and products, the organizations said Wednesday.”



Other charities are as follows:

Coca-Cola Co.’donated $1 million to American Red Cross for Haiti

The UPS Foundation $1 million to American Red Cross and UNICEF and others

Publix Super Markets Charities $100,000

Wells Fargo & Co. $100,000

TD Bank Financial Group and General Motors $100,000 each

Kraft Food Foundation $25,000

Sales4Souls Inc 100,000 pairs of shoes

GoDaddy.com $500,000 to Hope for Haiti

Kellogg Co. pledged $250,000 to the American Red Cross.

(For a list of all the donors, please check the LA Times article)

03:00 GMT

As night falls in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, the situation still seems dire. There are no immediate reports of how many people have died. There are no reports on how many people have been injured. There are no real estimates of how many people are trapped under the rubble.

All that can be said for sure is that the lives of at least 3 million people in this impoverished nation has been shattered. The other 6 million people will also be facing tremendous woes as the economic hub of this nation turned into rubble just a day ago.

As reports from citizen journalists reach us, the catastrophe’s limits can easily be observed. The city is said to be in almost utter darkness. People are sleeping outside. Tremors and shockwaves continue to hit the capital. There was even a report that gunfire was heard in the capital.Cell phone connections are severely hampered.

As the world mobilizes and sends relief to Haiti, it is uncertain what might happen inside the country in the next few days. I will update more soon as more information about the miserable situations clears further.

02:45 GMT

Guys,

As we wait anxiously on more news from Haiti, here’s what I think we need to be doing right now:

I have covered situations like this before and I have followed news as well about earthquakes in the past. There are possibly hundreds if not thousands of people still trapped under the rubble in Haiti.

Their lives depend on the donations we make right now. Sure enough, our help will be much needed in the coming days to help survivors, but those who are waiting and praying under tonnes of concrete, mud, wood and metal can’t wait that long.

Please help raise money right now. I saw a tweet earlier that said, “I heard help is coming… tomorrow.” Let’s not waste time while we have it.

Please raise awareness about the ones trapped under the rubble, waiting for our help now. Pressure your governments to do more and quickly. This is the time to save those lives who are waiting for our help.

Here’s a good link with list of aid agencies you can donate to here. Please donate and soon.

02:33 GMT

caribnews

URGENT — CNN REPORTER IN PORT-AU-PRINCE SAYS GUN SHOTS CAN BE HEARD IN THE CITY. NO OTHER DETAILS (via @Upfront_News)

02:29 GMT

The Associated Press Reports:

The State Department has established a toll-free number (888-407-4747) for people seeking information about family members in Haiti. The government advises that some callers may receive a recording because of the heavy volume of inquiries.

If you are wondering how you could help with the relief efforts in Haiti, Catholic Relief might be of help:

CatholicRelief

If you have a cell phone and you want to help survivors of the earthquake in Haiti, please text RELIEF to 30644 and follow the instructions.

02:24 GMT

The Network for Good has released a list of aid agencies that you can donate to to directly help the people of Haiti through this catastrophe of epic proportions.

You can access the list by clicking here.

I have already posted several bona fide aid agencies’ information in the liveblog, however, this is perhaps one of the more substantial lists that are out there.

02:15 GMT

Massive world relief effort is currently underway to reach the victims and survivors of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake.

The US, Britain and other countries are already sending supplies or are gearing up supplies to send to the country to provide assistance to rescue teams.

The Associated Press Reports:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States was offering full assistance — civilian and military — while dozens of countries including Britain, France, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico and Venezuela pledged rescue teams, doctors, cash and supplies.

Sixty-five rubble-clearing specialists and six sniffer dogs were leaving France on Wednesday for Haiti, while Spain was rushing three airplanes of rescuers and 100 tons of tents, blankets and cooking kits. Israel was sending in an elite Army rescue unit of engineers and doctors. A military reconnaissance team from Canada was arriving in Haiti on Wednesday aboard a C-130 transport plane to assess the need for donated mosquito nets, basic household goods, tents and sanitation packages.

The Irish telecommunications company Digicel said it would donate $5 million to aid agencies and help repair Haiti’s damaged phone network.

Full Story

(Having covered similar catastrophes before, I seriously think millions is not enough.)

02:12 GMT

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders to assist in the relief effort for Haitian victims.

Where are the other celebrities?

01:56 GMT

Relief agencies on Twitter report on relief efforts in Haiti:

UNICEFLive

Tune in to @cp24newsat 9 pm for updates on Haiti. Also, keep checking our wesite for info!http://bit.ly/16ADif

ConvoyofHope

Donate your birthday to Haiti Earthquake Relief here: http://ow.ly/WbWA

MSF_USA

Doctors Without Borders has treated more than 1,000 wounded people since the earthquake hit #Haiti.

MSF_USA

We are dispatching additional emergency staff, including a 6-person surgical team expected to arrive in the coming days.

MSF_USA

See what Doctors Without Borders was doing in #Haiti before the earthquake.http://bit.ly/61BCmC

CARE

Just saw Hanesbrands has pledged $25k to @care’s Haiti disaster relief fund. Thanks!

ConvoyofHope

RT @CoxHealth: Today we donated 3 pallets of medical supplies to @ConvoyofHope for Haiti earthquake relief. Thank you, Convoy// #haitiquake

OneDaysWages

We knew the @OneDaysWages community was amazing, but 120+ donors together giving over 10k for #Haiti in less than 12 hours? Incredible!!

AmeriCares

RT @SMacLaughlin: Visa Giving sets up Haiti donation forms for OxFam and AmeriCareshttp://bit.ly/5VNgsO #haiti

AmeriCares staff & aid bound for Port-au-Prince. We pledge $5 million in relief for #Haitihttp://bit.ly/4CyCob help Haiti #earthquake

savethechildren

We need your support to help children and families recover from Haiti’s strongest earthquake in 200 years. http://bit.ly/5dDppC #HaitiQuake

unicefusa

Help us spread the word. Add a banner to your website, profile or blog. http://bit.ly/7jHLzdHelp #Haiti http://bit.ly/6gp6AP

Read rest of LiveBlog:

Comments

[Business Women]

Just a few days ago, on TV, I saw Ex-President Bill Clinton bringing investors , training and hope to the people of Port Au Prince...and now this catastrophe occurs. The Haitian people need the United States to help more than ever --- just a small portion of what we spend on wars would save the lives and futures of one of our closest neighbors in this hemisphere. In Haiti there is one sad occurrence after another. I can see why people in that country do not put their strength and energy into doing more to improve the island. People must live from day to day, never knowing when the next calamity will happen. There are many Haitian people here in NYC and my heart goes out to all of them. I was relieved to read that relief for Haiti is already being organized by this country.
Stephanie Mcnealy

[WitteKr]

Thanks Josh, for keeping us up to date and aware of terrible suffering elsewhere... I hope Will Heaven is looking at what Twitter or Facebook mean to Haitians now.

They could have meant so much for Bam as well, if things had been different. But they aren't.
How would people in Bam feel now, if they knew? Guess they don't have internet in their still persisting tents/homes...

I'm not being cynical. I'm hopeful. Technology DOES make a difference... http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/jan/14/socialnetworking-haiti

[ChrisE]

A thought-provoking piece entitled 'Our role in Haiti's Plight' in today Guardian CIF

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/13/our-role-in-haitis-plight