Operations Into Jacmel Expected By Mid-Week
As some 200 daily flights transit through the congested and sole
functioning Haitian airport in the capital of Port-au-Prince, the
U.S. military is looking to open a second runway in the city of
Jacmel within a day. The airfield will receive C-130 deliveries
that initially will support Canadian humanitarian assistance
efforts centered in the southern city about 30 miles southeast of
the Haitian capital, a military official said.
"The first [additional] runway in Haiti proper will go into
operation in the vicinity of Jacmel within the next 24 hours," Army
Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn, the second in command of U.S. operations in
Haiti, told Pentagon reporters today.
Reports of bottlenecking at Toussaint Louverture International
Airport in Port-au-Prince have emerged as the hub's capacity has
grown from an average of 13 commercial aircraft arrivals daily
before a magnitude 7 earthquake struck Jan. 12 to the present level
of more than 200 flights.
As international support continues to flow into Haiti amid what
one official has called one of the greatest humanitarian
emergencies in the history of the Americas, the U.S. military has
looked outside the capital for areas to receive the additional
provisions, equipment and personnel. "We are obviously very
conscious of the need to have multiple ports of entry," said Allyn,
adding that the U.S. military assessed the site at Jacmel yesterday
during a helicopter delivery of food and supplies to the area.
In addition to the strip in Jacmel, officials hope to improve
logistics from San Isidro in the neighboring Dominican Republic to
affected areas in Haiti.
Original estimates by the Red Cross were that upwards of 50,000
people were killed in the quake, with 3 million Haitians affected,
but other reports elevated the estimated death count at 100,000 to
200,000.
The top priority now is to distribute supplies that are building
on the ground as they continue being delivered by the Defense
Department and international contributors, the general said. A C-17
Globemaster III transport jet flew from Pope Air Force Base, N.C.,
yesterday and airdropped nearly 15,000 meals and more than 15,000
liters of water to people in northeastern Port-au-Prince. "This
aerial delivery augments our ongoing relief efforts and continues
to extend our reach to the stricken," said Allyn, adding that the
United States has delivered more than 400,000 bottles of water and
300,000 rations to the people of Haiti in the past six days.
About half of the 7,000 U.S. troops in Haiti -- 2,000 on the
ground and more than 5,000 afloat off the Haitian coast -- are
directly involved in delivering humanitarian assistance ashore, he
said. The number of U.S. forces operating in and around Haiti is
expected to rise to more than 10,000 by the end of the day, a
defense official said.