My Desultory Blog

I check your site everyday and appreciate most of your posts and opinions. It is sad to hear of all the suffering in Haiti and as I prepare to board ship and travel down there the stories I’m reading make my fmailyworry. Hope security is i n place before we arrive.
RR
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Looting has turned violent in Haiti’s shattered capital Port-au-Prince, with a mob of about 1,000 people fighting for goods in a central street, according to a journalist.

The United Nations says the earthquake, which officials say has killed at least 50,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless, is the worst is it has ever confronted.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has now arrived in the country, which was again rocked by a strong 4.5-magnitude aftershock overnight.

Photographer Carlos Barria says men with stones, knives and hammers are now battling to grab T-shirts, bags, toys and any other items they can find in destroyed houses and shops.

Police present earlier were nowhere to be seen.

“It’s anarchy there now, total chaos. The police have gone away,” Mr Barria said.

“They are fighting, hitting each other, throwing stones at each other.”

Looting was sporadic in the first few days after Wednesday’s earthquake, but now appears to be spreading.

Witnesses are reporting chaos in areas across the city, as authorities fail to take control of the streets and the desperation of refugees still waiting for aid spills over.

On a Port-au-Prince soccer field that is now a refuge for the homeless, young medical student Gilbert Wilkins is doing his best with any medical supplies he can scrounge.

But he says there has seen no signs of aid delivery and he has been forced to stitch open wounds together without aesthetic or antibiotics.

“You can imagine putting stitches in someone without any aesthetic. You just try to do it without anything, so you can imagine how it’s hard,” he said.

He says he is worried about the threat of infection and the people relying on him are desperate.

About 10 US helicopters have flown over Port-au-Prince, landing in open spaces to throw out boxes of water-bottles and ready-to-eat meals.

However most Haitians appeared clueless about what to do with the food packages, witnesses said.

US President Barack Obama, who says the tragedy in Haiti “defies comprehension”, has enlisted former US presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton to spearhead private fundraising efforts.

Mr Bush says the best way for individuals to help is to send money.

“I know a lot of people want to send blankets, or water – just send your cash,” he said.

“That money will go to organisations on the ground who will be able to effectively spend it.”

The US Government has already contributed $US100 million, but Mr Clinton says the need more money is urgent.

“Right now all we need to do is get food and medicine and water and a secure place for them to be,” he said.

“We want to do what I did with the president’s father in the tsunami area. We want to be a place where people can know their money will be well spent.”

- ABC/Reuters