Sophie Perez, CARE’s Country Director in Haiti, was in the CARE office in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit at about 5 p.m. local time Jan. 12, 2010. We reached her by phone at 6.30 a.m. local time Jan. 13.
Click here to donate to our Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal
“It was terrifying. The quake lasted for more than a minute. We were at the office when it happened, and the whole office was shaking really hard. People were screaming, crying, running. Everything was moving. I saw a building of nine floors completely collapse right in front of me. A bank collapsed. Even if a building isn’t totally destroyed, you can’t access the area because of the danger.
“Our staff who were with me in the office are safe, but most of their houses are collapsed. I’ve heard other aid workers from other agencies are still missing. Everyone is trying to find their families. It seems the whole city was affected – to the north, south, everywhere. It was difficult to get through the streets. Buildings have collapsed everywhere, and there is rubble blocking the roads. Many areas you can’t go by car. You can only get through by foot, because there is so much debris.
“Last night, people were sleeping outside because they were afraid to go back inside their homes. Many of the houses are destroyed anyway. There were eight aftershocks last night. Thousands of people were sleeping in the streets.
“We’re particularly worried about the children, because so many schools seem to have collapsed. In Haiti, children go to school in the afternoon. Children were still in school when the earthquake hit, so there are many children trapped. It’s horrifying. The slums on the hills have also completely collapsed. We’ve heard of landslides, with entire communities being wiped out.
“I’ve been here for many years, and I’ve experienced a few small earthquakes. But I’ve never been through anything this strong. My house is okay, but I spent the night outside by the gate with my children. There were eight aftershocks during the night, and we woke up every time. My children are terrified. Everyone is terrified.
“It is just morning here now, and I can hear helicopters working on the search and rescue. The immediate need is to rescue people trapped in the rubble, then to get people food and water. Everything is urgent.”
CARE has launched an international appeal for funds for Haiti, and has allocated an initial €100,000 (£90,000) to immediately start emergency operations. CARE plans to start food distributions using stocks of high-protein biscuits from our warehouses in Haiti. CARE is coordinating with other UN agencies and aid organisations in the joint assessment to gather more detailed information about the damage and the needs on the ground and will rapidly scale up our response. CARE has 133 personnel already on the ground, with extensive experience responding to disasters.
Click here to donate to our Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal
