Haitian Relief Ramps Up
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush appeared on Meet the Press Sunday to jointly promote their Haiti relief fund. Bush said the fund's immediate goal would be to save lives as well as make sure the U.S. was committed in the long run.
"Our job is to remind people that there's still an ongoing need. And we'll, we'll do that," Bush said. "That's part of the purpose of our fund is to say to the American people, 'Rebuilding is a long-term project.'" A $10 donation is given to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund when cell phone users text the word "QUAKE" to 20222.
When asked if the U.S. was playing a role in running the Haitian government, Clinton stressed that the U.S is only "helping [Haiti] to do things that require an organization that no longer exists," including running the capital's airport. Clinton, named the U.N. special envoy to Haiti in May 2009, will arrive in Haiti on Monday as part of a mission to deliver aid and meet with the Haitian president Rene Preval.
The U.S State Department said via Twitter that 1 million people have raised $17.6 million by sending text message donations to the Red Cross as of Sunday.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that, after making an appeal for $575 million in emergency funds for Haiti relief, it has received $51 million from donor countries with an additional $32 million pledged.
The World Food Programme said it had distributed high energy biscuits to 73,000 people on Sunday. However, the U.N. hunger organization said more food was urgently needed to feed the hundreds of thousands displaced by the disaster. It is estimated that 3.5 million Haitians have been affected by the 7.0 quake.
The U.S. is sending 10,000 to 12,000 troops who are schedule to arrive in the area Monday to coordinate aid operations. The forces will also work with the 9,000 UN peacekeepers who are attempting to keep order. But the US has not commented on how many troops will actually be sent into Haiti.
Concerns over security in Haiti are growing. Officials fear civil unrest if the aid efforts spearheaded by the U.S. cannot provide enough food and water. The Telegraph reported Sunday that local police shot at a throng of looters which was raiding a market in Port-au-Prince. One man was killed from a gunshot to the head.
Video: "Crime on the rise in Haiti" (Reuters)
Rescue crews are racing to extract quake survivors from destroyed buildings. Three more victims who were trapped inside a collapsed grocery store were pulled to safety Sunday. Crews successfully saved two more people trapped at the same location Sunday night.

Destroyed Port-au-Prince neighborhood after a 7.0 earthquake struck last
Tuesday. (United Nations Development Programme)
A report on quake relief released by the UN OCHA Sunday said that search and rescue teams were able to save 13 people on Saturday. The total amount of rescues so far is pegged at 71.
The Los Angeles County Urban Search and Rescue Team which is operating in Port-au-Prince removed a survivor from a destroyed hotel Sunday, according to a press release from the L.A. Fire Department.
The UN OCHA report also detailed the dire infrastructure situation in the ravaged country. Fuel restrictions have been put in place as available fuel is becoming more scarce. The price of gas has risen to $10 per gallon.
An assessment of the capital's seaport found the port is not in operating condition which will further hamper relief efforts. Port terminal buildings have collapsed and the access road to the port has been damaged.
The Port-au-Prince airport is still facing delays getting aid cargo into the country, despite the U.S. takeover of airport operations. Aid organizations are complaining that the U.S. is giving military aircraft priority and that aid planes are being denied the ability to land, according to Al-Jazeera. Doctors Without Borders said in a press release that their cargo plane loaded with medical supplies was routed to the Dominican Republic after it was blocked from landing at the Port-au-Prince airport. The medical supplies will have to be trucked into Haiti causing a delay in their delivery.



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