TFHA01: EMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE EARTHQUAKE SITREP as of 1800

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 000050 SENSITIVE SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AEMR ASEC CASC KFLO MARR PREL PINR AMGT HA PGOV AID EAID SUBJECT: TFHA01: EMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE EARTHQUAKE SITREP as of 1800 Day 4 PREVAL ANNOUNCES GOH PRIORITIES ¶1. (SBU) On January 14 at 3:00 PM the Ambassador attended first UN donor coordination meeting at MINUSTAH's log base with President Preval, Prime Minister Bellerive, the new Special Representative of the Secretary General Edmond Mulet, Kim Bolduc of UNDP, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, and the Ambassadors of Brazil and the EU. Preval presented the following GOH priorities: ???? Re-establish telephone communications; ???? Clear the streets of debris and bodies; ???? Provide food and water to the population; ???? Bury cadavers; ???? Treat the injured; ???? Coordination. ¶2. (SBU) The Prime Minister in the same meeting reiterated the importance of avoiding duplication of efforts while pushing for regulation of logistics at the airport to ensure 1) the landing of planes and the unloading and distribution of food and supplies, and 2) the rapid delivery to supplies to citizens and food security. GOH will identify site for camps, hospitals, and distribution points. Due to public health risks, the GOH is prepared to cease search efforts for survivors and cadavers when the appropriate time arrives, in line with international norms. GOH has also decided to cut electricity, as the entire distribution system was heavily damaged, before attempting to restore electrical power. The ports will be re-organized before allowing the unloading of merchandise or fuel. POLICE OPERATIONS SERIOUSLY HAMPERED ¶3. (SBU) During the morning of Janaury 15, Poloff visited three police stations in Port-au-Prince and interviewed the officer in charge. Stations visited were located in Pacot, Canape Vert and Petionville. In each case the situation was the same: few officers showing up for duty; no or limited communications; no fuel for vehicles or generators; and no water. Poloff also passed by the former Delmas 33 police station and jail, which was completely destroyed. ¶4. (SBU) According to officers in charge of each station, only about 30-40 percent of officers assigned to each post have shown up for duty. The reasons are that officers were killed when their homes collapsed, or they are taking care of the needs of their families (some of whom died or were injured). Of the officers who have appeared for duty, many of those have been working for two or three days straight. Some officers are working in civilian clothes because their uniforms were left in their destroyed homes. Other officers live far from the districts in which they work and are unable to find transportation because many routes are blocked and they cannot obtain fuel for their personal vehicles (the few gas stations that are open have lines of vehicles blocks long). The commandant of the Petionville station took the initiative of walking across the street to a public radio station and broadcasted a message to all police officers to report to the closest police station for duty. ¶5. (SBU) Each station observed by Poloff was filled with parked police vehicles, most without fuel. In Canape Vert, for example, only about 25 percent of the vehicles are operable. ¶6. (SBU) Another problem is the lack of communications that is dependent, for the most part, on radios (mobile phone service is still unpredictable and unreliable). Because the stations do not have electricity, they cannot keep their radios charged. The Petionville station had electricity during Poloff's visit only because a nearby hotel donated two hours' worth of fuel. The stations are receiving their direction from the Director Centrale Police Administrative (DCPA),which is being housed within the DCPJ headquarters near the airport. ¶7. (SBU) The first priority for each station is getting their officers into the field but, for the reasons mentioned above, that task is problematic. The next priority is dealing with increased occurrence of looting and violence that is spreading in their districts, mostly by gangs of roving criminals who are gone by the time the police are able to respond. Another task is providing order at gas stations, where there are long lines and short tempers. ¶8. (SBU) As reported earlier, the main prison in central Port-au-Prince was damaged in the quake and almost all of the prisoners escaped. Police officers from the Petionville station recaptured two of them, who are being held in the station's jail. The Petionville commandant also stated that on Wednesday the inmates of the women's prison at that location began to riot and attempt escape, but that effort was eventually controlled. ¶9. (SBU) The Petionville station is also plagued by citizens who are depositing the corpses of victims on the property. Those corpses are being buried in mass graves. ¶10. (SBU) A NAS contractor who drove by several PNH facilities in the afternoon reported: the PNH vehicle repair facility in downtown Port-au-Prince has been destroyed; and the CIMO (riot control) HQ near the Palace is intact and operational. SECURITY SITUATION ¶11. (SBU) The PNH reports increased frequency of looting, carjacking and armed attacks by roving gangs. However, compared to period before the quake, when police could be seen at most major intersections and zipping through town on their motorcycles, they are now rarely in sight and are noticeably absent in public. ¶12. (SBU) One armed gang attacked the vacant ruins of the Nader Apartments in Juvenat, former home for several embassy staff members, at approximately 1:00 PM. The building was being guarded by an unarmed Embassy guard and by an armed private security guard. After the attackers broke through the surrounding security wall, the unarmed Embassy guard fled and the armed security guard surrendered. ¶13. (SBU) The embassy NAS office reports that it is in the process of providing solar panels and batteries to police stations for charging radio batteries (probably by tomorrow). It will also distribute 10 cases (50 each) of white smoke grenades for crowd control, and 50 shotguns with ammunition. All of the above is being provided from INL inventories. NAS is reviewing and finalizing another list of supplies to be provided in the near future. EVACUATION OF AMCITS CONTINUES ¶14. (SBU) On 15 January the embassy's ACS office evacuated 159 Amcits: 86 on an Air Force flight to Florida, and 83 on a USCG flight to Santo Domingo. In addition, 14 injured Amcits were evacuated by medivac. According to the embassy's ACS chief, approximately 90 percent of those evacuated so far are Haitian-Americans; 10 percent are missionaries or visitors. ¶15. (SBU) According to the Consulate, the number of Amcits seeking evacuation is steadily increasing. The ability to handle these numbers is limited by 1) availability of aircraft due to airport congestion; 2) ability of limited embassy staff to process the evacuees; and 3) the chaotic and unsecure environment in front of the Port-au-Prince airport (which has recently improved as a result of security provided by Diplomatic Security and the U.S. military). OFDA COORDINATING SAR EFFORTS ¶16. (SBU) The UN has divided Port-au-Prince into 20 SAR sectors, of which five are assigned to teams from the U.S. (to include teams from Fairfax County, VA and Los Angeles, CA). The other sectors are being handled by the UN and SAR teams from other countries. Normally, rescue efforts in an earthquake situation convert to recovery efforts after 72 hours (at 4:50 PM today). However, SAR teams report they are still finding survivors and they are optimistic that more will be found. At the present time, U.S. SAR teams are working at 4 sites to rescue 10 possible survivors. US MILITARY PROVIDING RELIEF EFFORTS ¶17. (SBU) Lead elements of the 82nd Airborne Division arrived today, with approximately 150 troops on the ground. More aircraft are expected to arrive tonight with troops and equipment. ¶18. (SBU) USCG helicopters ferried water provided by AID and OFTA to two locations in Port-au-Prince, which was then distributed by with the assistance of U.S. soldiers and NGO personnel. ¶19. (SBU) The Carrier Carl S. Vinson is on station in Port-au-Prince harbor, and will be providing helicopter lift support for water and humanitarian supplies. HAITI STABILIZATION INITIATIVE JOINING IN QUAKE RESPONSE EFFORTS ¶20. The U.S. Embassy, through the Martissant Haiti Stabilization Initiative (HSI),will initiate a series of quick impact soil conservation and disaster mitigation projects in three at-risk ravines above Martissant, one of Port-au-Prince's poorer and violence affected neighborhoods. The projects, which could begin as early as January 18, are being implemented by the International Organization for Migration and will provide up to 660 short-term jobs and much-needed income for poor families in the wake of the earthquake. Apart from short-term jobs and necessary disaster mitigation, these projects promote community development, drawing workers from as many of the numerous neighborhoods comprising Martissant as possible. GOVERNMENT OF HAITI DEVELOPMENTS ¶21. According to Senator Youri Latortue and D????put???? Steven Benoit, Parliament will hold an emergency meeting at 10:00 AM tomorrow at the National Laboratory of Public Health on Delmas 33 to make recommendations to Pr????sident Pr????val concerning a State of Emergency. ¶22. Senator Michelet Louis of Artibonite died in the collapse of the Parliament building. His body has already been sent to his Department. Senator Wilbert of the Central Plateau also died in the collapse. Senator Michel Cl????ri???? suffered a broken arm. ¶23. Emergency Commissions already formed within the GOH: PNH Director General Mario Andresol will be the lead for Security, former General Herard Abraham will lead fuel distribution, Architects Patrick Delatour and Daniel Elie for building structure evaluation and demolition, Dr. Claude Surena for health matters, and Dr. Michel Chancy for food distribution. GENERAL SITUATION ¶24. (SBU) After nightfall, living in Port-au-Prince is an eerie and surreal experience. The city is mostly dark, with very few vehicles on the streets. The odor of decaying corpses is beginning to permeate the air. The night is filled with a constant cacophony of sounds: mostly chanting and the singing of hymns, but interspersed with screams of grief, prayers shouted from loudspeakers and barking dogs. After an aftershock occurs, the background noise increases in a wave of screams rising from the city. With dawn, the singing and screams begin to diminish and are gradually replaced with the sounds of crowing roosters and the labor of clearing debris. ¶25. (SBU) TeleCo seems to be making progress toward restoring service in some areas. Our political section's LES reported that his phone now has a dial tone, though his attempts to make a call were unsuccessful. ¶26. (SBU) Almost all major arterial streets are clear, though the majority of secondary streets remain obstructed. The usual vehicle traffic is reduced by approximately 80 percent, which is most likely due to limited fuel availability. Pedestrian traffic has not diminished. The usual hordes of street venders on all thoroughfares is reduced by approximately one-half, but this is in fact encouraging - normal life is struggling to return. However, these venders are not hesitant to take advantage of the situation - a small "sachet" of water (about 6 ounces) that normally sells for two gourdes (USD 5 cents) now sells for 10 gourdes (USD 24 cents). Other prices are said to have quadrupled. ¶27. (SBU) A report from a NAS contractor who toured the downtown Port-au-Price area indicates that much of the area from the Palace to the waterfront is severely damaged and will probably have to be razed. Remarkably, however, the old Embassy appears to be undamaged. ¶28. (SBU) Union School, the American-accredited school in Haiti, has been damaged, but it is still standing. Luckily, the quake took place after school hours, however there were some staff members and a few children still on the premises. Everyone came out alive. There have been casualties of the staff however outside of school. ¶29. (SBU) Gradually, the city's public water system (CAMEP) is beginning to recover. Poloff witnessed residents filling water containers at a public hydrant in Petionville and residents in lower Canape Vert report that their water service has been restored. MERTEN