AAPN Tactical Network responds to Haiti

Day 1 4:55pm I thought we had hit some potholes that we might not have seen. But as we kept moving slowly with no potholes in front of us, the shaking of the SUV continued and worsened. The car in front was wobbling as well and at that point I knew something was amiss. Looking down the road and along the sides I began to see what looked like objects falling from the sky, blocks from building walls and wooden beams, with dust filling the air. We stopped in our tracks, trying to hold onto the doors and the seat to keep from being thrown from side to side or front to back, as well as up and down. The shaking of the car was as much as two feet from side to side and front to back, while at the same time bouncing up and down. I heard a thud. The concrete block wall lining part of the street to our side had fallen a foot from the passenger side of the car where I was sitting. I pushed myself to the center of the seats, extending my head as far back and away from any windows as possible, but trying to maintain sight of what was happening outside, hoping as well that nothing would fall on our roof. Didn’t know if it was best to stay in the car or get out, but we stayed in. It felt like a Disney World ride, but one that wasn’t engineered, and not knowing if and when there was an end. It wasn’t staged. No one was at the controls. People from one end of the street were running downhill while those downhill were running uphill, both groups thinking there was safety at the other end of the street. That is, those could walk or run during the tremble. Most people were first falling down only to try to get back up and falling once again. Some people stood mesmerized in a panic turning in circles. Others were crying over someone that had been injured or even killed, crushed by something falling. Women and men holding young injured children were running down the street, looking for a place that could somehow miraculously help heal them. It lasted about 15-20 seconds, but seemed like it would never end. The shaking slowed down and finally stopped. A man came running up to the side of my door, knelt down and threw aside three, still joined, concrete blocks and picked up a little girl about 4 years old from underneath to take her to shelter. She wasn’t visible from inside the car, lying inches from the bottom of my door. She was bloodied and I felt somewhat of a guilt not having spotted her sooner than he did, considering I was inches away. My escort was a policeman during this particular ride so I felt safe among all the turmoil now going on, as least as far as anyone deciding to rob the only foreigner on the street. I stepped out of the car to see if there was anyone else that was in possible need of help that was nearby, not that there was really any assistance we could provide except for comfort or to remove someone from under rubble. I felt for a short while that I couldn’t stand up myself without holding on to the car, still feeling a wobbly effect, whether imagined, something still in my body as an after affect, or if it was still trembling a little bit. A man half walking and half running with blood running down from his skull grabbed my hand. I pulled away as there was really nothing I could do for him. He turned away and just stood looking down the street. With people lining the streets it was impossible to move the car for the moment. People were screaming. Some were shouting prayers, others screaming in fear, while others screaming over a lost or injured loved one. We waited a few more minutes before turning around to head home. As we rode down the street we saw more people carrying children trying to crowd into the public transport pick-ups, in Haiti called “tap taps”. It happened a few minutes before 5pm so it was now beginning to get dark outside. We had been in route to the downtown area, which ran through one of the poorest sectors of town. Incredibly, most of the home made buildings by the natives were still standing, but as we got back on the main streets we saw that the commercial banks and other large buildings were collapsed. There was no cell service. I was unable to call anyone else to see if they were ok or not. I would just have to wait to get back, a long 20 minute ride. Once I got back I found that our group was safe, but without the phone service as well as internet, there was no way to inform our families that we had survived, and as I write there is still neither. I got back to the house at the same time the rest of my group was arriving, they having walked from the factory. We found the house intact with little damage. The pool was missing water, my boss (Joe Stephenson), who I had dropped off at the house before leaving for downtown said the waves in the pool were responsible for the foot of water missing. We checked our generator for electricity as city power was out and we expected it to be for some time. We were all anxious about this particular machine. It provided us with our water flow to the house, the ability to cook, as well as giving us the fans in the heat of the day. It will later serve us to communicate with our internet when that signal resumes. The first thing we saw when we checked it was the gas tank over on its side, off the stand it needed to be on, but still full. 5 of the guys managed to lift it back onto the stand. It didn’t look damaged. First good sign. We then checked around the generator to see if anything else appeared to have damage. Aside from the exhaust pipe leaning to the side it looked like it was in good shape. We decided to give it a try. Our prayers for the moment were answered as it started up and the house came to life with lights. Our water line was broken and we managed to fix that. It had been crushed by the wall at the back of the house falling over. I found my bedroom a mess with the armoire fallen and most of the items on my desk and dresser on the floor or close to being so. All the furniture was rearranged. We ate a quick dinner, most of us with very little appetite. We went to the hotel 3 blocks away that had remained intact as well, hoping to find someone with an international phone or possibly internet service, neither of which we found existed at the moment. But we found lounge chairs around the pool which would serve as our beds for the night, since they were outside and safer than indoors. The aftershocks were trembling about every half hour. The pool at the hotel was somehow leaking as we saw the water level diminishing and was already half empty. One person in our group was a guest at this hotel so we got the sheets out of his room to use as covers and protection from the mosquitoes that are common in Haiti, while others had brought some type of blanket to use. I covered myself from head to toe as did the others, and tried to sleep, while at the same time trying to stay alert to any tremors that could be another quake instead. Day 2 I managed to get a call out to the US this morning, finding a scarce signal that has yet to return, to inform that I was ok as well as the others in my group, but it was the only call that any of us were able to connect with. We rode to the factory to see the extent of damage. We were fortunate there as well having had some people with only minor injuries and no deaths. Rubble was on the ground. Pieces of the walls were gone. The stairwell to the upstairs was cracked with pieces of blocks from the walls on the stairway. The wall at the halfway turn of the stairwell to the outside of the building was gone, which was also used by some of our employees as they jumped out to safety, not wanting to wait to get out with those in front of them. People were scrambling to get out with only themselves in mind. The support pillars had cracks and shifts in them. Machines were moved. Rolls of fabric were on the floor. Cartons of finished work had fallen off the prepared pallets. Dust, powder, and debris were rampant. Lights hung suspended only by the electrical wires attached to them. Other factories were not as fortunate as one had a complete wall fall and killed 3 of the workers. What we can be thankful for from the factory is that the diesel tank is still standing and will provide us with diesel for the home generator for the next couple weeks until things take some kind of order and the fact that we just had a fresh supply of purified bottled water delivered to the plant that will provide us with what is normally taken for granted. Our pickup was low on gas. A few of the guys went to find some gas, afraid it was going to be impossible. Luckily they took two containers and found a gas station with gas. With too many people gathered around the station they were forced to fill the containers over and over and take them to the truck to put in the tank. But they managed to fill the tank as well as the two containers for a little extra later. We left to see if we could find a supermarket open to stock up on food. The usual grocery store we shop in no longer exists, while all the others were closed. On the way we passed close to the epicenter of the quake, about 2 miles from where I was at where it happened. One large building after another was either collapsed or partially so with the remaining portion tilted, or with large sections of walls fallen out. The two major hotels that house most of the business travelers further up the mountain no longer exist, both having collapsed in the same manner as the twin towers. Workers are digging out people. Parking garages are one solid mass of concrete now with no space between floors. Dead people lie covered in the streets, unfortunate victims, some abandoned while others with people around them crying and praying. Everyone is on the streets, afraid to go into a building for fear that the building would collapse on its own or an aftershock would arrive and cause it to collapse. We have had numerous aftershocks, but none that caused much more damage. Day 3 I finally got some much needed rest last night. The aftershocks appeared to stop around 7pm last night and around 10pm I slept inside, having moved from upstairs to downstairs with better access to the exits. Joe accepted a ride to Dominican Republic, the other half of the island, and promised he would write and call our families. There’s nothing more we can do for the moment except wait for the infrastructure to at least get the basics working again. The United Nations, already with a presence here on the island is out and working, both in rescue efforts and repairs. I heard rumors that the chief of the United Nations was in the country during the quake and was one of the victims at the major hotel that collapsed. The airport does not have departing flights. I visited the hotel nearby again an hour ago to check on phone service as well as internet. What I learned was that they have the internet tower that supplies the signal to the area, but that it is down. They are waiting for Hainet, the internet company, to come put it back up, but don’t know exactly when they will arrive. They have satellite TV, so there was a weak signal with CNN. I watched for a short while seeing the reporting on Haiti, learning aid was on the way, and knowing the world knew what had happened. What I didn’t see reported was the lack of phone or internet service, which would explain our lack of communication. I saw that Obama said that Haiti would not be forgotten, but that message would not reach the population here now as no one has cable service without the satellite. 4pm I’m shaking again, the same as I do each time after feeling an aftershock and running outside to be sure it’s not going to be major again. The sounds of helicopters overhead are increasing with time. 5pm We went to the free zone to the factory to pick up refills on diesel and water. The free zone, which is where all the sewing factories are located, is also the home base for the UN. Today we found the street lined with mobile trailers that had arrived from the Social Assistance Department of Dominican Republic. The trailers were portable kitchens and were being prepared to hit the streets to provide some food for all those in need. After making our stop at the factory we rode out a ways to see if we could find a signal for phone service, but no luck. On the way we saw the first two portable kitchens out with two lines of people a block long and more running to the back of the line as word spread that food was available. Each person was pegged to the next in order to prevent anyone from slipping into line while the UN force watched for the same and tried to maintain an organized and calm procedure. Haiti, which was starting to show a little progress in rebuilding the country with efforts to put people back to work in the sewing industry, with investors from other countries, with increases in the minimum wage, a HOPE program by the U.S., and clients in the sewing industry starting to see benefits of coming to Haiti, will be devastated again with all that at a standstill. Those two hotels that collapsed housed 90 percent of the business travelers. Factories are damaged and will take months to make the necessary repairs or to make moves to new facilities. What was once a bad infrastructure is now worse, and I feel for the people of Haiti. Our workers have been dropping by our house, some telling us their families are ok, while others tell us how many they have lost. Day 4 Friday 5am. I woke up hearing a ticking sound which was my table rattling, and felt my bed shaking. Grabbed my shoes and computer bag, my only future means of communication besides the phone, and ran outside again. Not the most pleasant way to wake up. We waited outside for a while to make sure all was ok again, while in the meantime I turned on my cell phone to again check for a signal, but to no avail. After 15 minutes I heard the sound from my phone indicating a change in signal. I immediately started dialing until finally got a connection with home. Spoke to my wife and assured her we were fine, at least with water, electricity, and food. I then dialed out for each of the others on my team so they could do the same, as my phone was the only one with some minutes available. I felt a sense of a relief knowing I was able to assure them we were alive and well. We’re still waiting for internet service. With each tremor we check the cracks in the walls on the house to be sure there are no new ones or that any have not changed for the worse. We can only wait until there are services so that we can find a way out and home. In the meantime I have by essentials for survival in my briefcase and a small bag, both of which I grab and run with from the house at the slightest tremor. I guess I’ll go shower, something I don’t relish since it’s cold water, while I also rush to be sure there’s no tremor while I am doing so. 9pm Got internet service and able to communicate with everyone, as well as see the US news reports. In some ways I didn’t realize just how bad it was out there since we have stayed close to home since it occurred. I wrote this account to keep me busy during the past few days and thought I would share it with you. Wayne Cooperman