US Army Helps Haiti After Earthquake and Tropical Storm

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The US military is sending support to help Haiti in the wake of the earthquake and tropical storm that devastated the country.

The United States Southern Command has established a joint task force in Haiti to conduct U.S. military operations in support of the external disaster assistance mission led by the United States Agency for International Development. The team coordinates with USAID, the government of Haiti, other international partners and NGOs to provide relief, at the request of their government.

“The role of US military forces during this disaster relief support mission is to respond rapidly with much needed capabilities to provide assistance and assistance to areas deemed absolutely essential by the Government of Haiti,” according to a SOUTHCOM press release.

Two US Coast Guard cutters are at the station and two service HH-60 Jayhawks are evacuating seriously injured Haitians. According to the US Southern Command. Helicopter crews, deployed from the Coast Guard Air Station in Clearwater, Florida, have completed three sorties and evacuated 15 Haitians by Monday, according to a SOUTHCOM update.

Service personnel with Combined Task Force Bravo from Soto Cano Air Force Base, Honduras, prepare to depart for Haiti on August 15 to support disaster relief efforts. The assets with 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, JTF-Bravo will provide heavy and medium lift in support of the USAID-led mission. (Captain Annabelle Munro/Air Force)

In addition, a Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft is collecting aerial photographs of earthquake-affected areas and a 14-man team from Southern Special Operations Command arrived at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince on Sunday to help assess the damage.

Sothcom said the Army is also directing three UH-60 Black Hawks, three CH-47 Chinooks, and two HH-60 Pave Hawks from the Bravo Combined Task Force in Honduras, to fly to Haiti to provide USAID support Decisive air. Those helicopters are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.

In addition, a Navy littoral combat ship and seven other Coast Guard cutters are on its way, Southcom said.

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A building in Les Cayes, Haiti, was destroyed on Tuesday, three days after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake and one day after Tropical Storm Grace swept the island. (Fernando Lano/AFP)

“To support disaster relief, US Southern Command has been working since Saturday morning with joint agencies to assess the situation and provide support in the aftermath of the earthquake,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.

“The Navy is assisting with drones to provide aerial images of the devastation caused by the earthquake,” Kirby said. These images will be used to help determine what relief capabilities are needed, and where and when. US Coast Guard helicopters and aircrews are transporting medical workers and evacuating those who need higher levels of care.”

A soldier walks over the rubble of the earthquake Tuesday, the next morning after Tropical Storm Grace Les Cayes, Haiti. (Fernando Lano/AFP)

Officials said Saturday’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake destroyed more than 7,000 homes and nearly 5,000 homes were destroyed by the quake, leaving about 30,000 families homeless. In its latest update, the Civil Protection Agency said the death toll from the earthquake now stands at 1,419 and 6,000 or so Haitians have been injured, many of whom have had to wait for medical help outside in the sweltering heat.

Hospitals, schools, offices and churches were destroyed or severely damaged.

Some towns in southwestern Haiti were almost completely destroyed in the earthquake, the latest disaster to hit the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haitians were already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, gang violence, worsening poverty, and the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moss.

Equipment for the 14-member US Southern Command Situation Awareness Team is loaded onto an Air Force C-130 aircraft from Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida. The team was deployed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on August 14 (Sox South).

On Monday, Tropical Storm Grace swept through Haiti with heavy rain. The storm’s rain and wind raised the risk of mudslides and flash floods as it slowly passed near the Tiburon Peninsula in southwestern Haiti overnight, before turning toward Jamaica and southeastern Cuba on Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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