Bob Thornley, in Haiti during the 2010 earthquakeImmediately we heard news of the earthquake on the afternoon of 12 January 2010 (the time of the 'quake was 16:53:09 Haiti time), we were extremely concerned for our friend Bob. Then we received the first message (foot of this page) and heaved a great sigh of relief and thanked the Lord. But this is just the beginning. Some idea of what it is really like in the thick of it can be gleaned from his messages. After 28 January I have only posted some of the messages - as an encouragement to you to read all of them here. 2 MarchUpdate: Lotsa pics from the site - it's huge! ---------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------- 5 FebruaryUpdate: Hatian currency --------------------------------------------- 28 JanuaryUpdate I thought that I'd give you another little update on what is happening here. Please realize that this is just my own personal view on what is happening around us. I am not going out of my way looking for stories nor for issues to work through. Read more ... --------------------------------------------- 24 JanuaryUpdate Think that it is about time to give you another little update. Things are starting to settle for us a little bit. A new kind of normal - really not sure what exactly that is, but it involves staying flexible and it involves change. Read more ... --------------------------------------------- 22 JanuaryToday was full of surprises, with pictures from the airport. This is not going to be a status update. Perhaps I'll write one of those in a day or so. Read more ... --------------------------------------------- 21 JanuaryYesterday morning we had another major tremor reportedly a 6. We have had so many aftershocks I just know that the ground shook once again. We suffered no major damage and all are fine. A number of buildings damaged but still standing further collapsed and there were Late yesterday we finally hooked up with our medical team. The area that they came into PAP through was so badly congested that it took us 1 ½ hrs to go through about 2 km of traffic. Thank God we found them. Since the quake yesterday morning, we have had very very poor internet service. So you may not hear from us over the next several days. Dont worry, Please pray for our continued protection and for Gods wisdom as we deal with this situation daily. Bob
--------------------------------------------- 19 JanuaryFrom Bob's blog Update Thought that I would give you a little update of what we have been doing over the last couple of days. Read more » --------------------------------------------- 18 JanuaryFrom Bob's blog Relief Teams - Construction Here is my current assessment for relief teams. While medical needs are in great need at this moment, I feel that any teams that are considering to come to help restore structures etc are not required at this time and cannot work effectively in the current environment. I sent the note below as a response to one team. There is a great need to help rebuild here in Haiti for sure. There are a few details that I would need to know to help with any decisions regarding help here in Haiti. What size of team are you talking about; do you speak either Kreyol or French? What timeframe are you thinking? The situation here in PAP right now is unsafe. In our own ministry we cannot find reliable sources of water and we have not been able to buy food since the quake. Businesses are closed so you cannot buy fuel, food, nor construction materials. We have looting already and we may be facing a period of unrest and violence. How long it will take to go through this period, I do not know. I would expect that at a minimum it could be several weeks or even months. I would not suggest that a team to rebuild comes in this period. The greatest need right now is medical. We are working on a team coming next week, and I am finding out that medical supplies are also scarce so even medical which is urgently needed is facing the same hurdles. In my opinion, there is not the same urgency associated with rebuilding as there is with medical and I would think that construction teams should wait until peace and stability are restored. --------------------------------------------- 17 JanuaryFrom Bob's blog The new building - minimal damage In an earlier post, I mentioned that I had gone to the site yesterday and had a closer look at the building. As I had anticipated the damage to the building is minor and superficial Read more » --------------------------------------------- 16 JanuaryI have updated my blog and added just a few pics. Please note that we are not in the worst areas. And I have decided not to take pictures of the dead and injured. These pictures that you will see are simply of some buildings and their state. Although our area survived better than many other areas we do have many buildings down some schools and orphanages. Bob --------------------------------------------- 14 Januaryjust updated my blog with a status message that I had e-mailed on the earth quake in Haiti. Also added another post with a few pics. --------------------------------------------- 14 January, 7.24 pmSince the earthquake all businesses, gas stations etc have been closed. There is no hydro and our house has some some electrical damage it has not been on my priority list yet, but will become one hopefully tomorrow, but if not the next day. I am without phone and without hydro my quick stop by the Canadian embassy to get a quick message out was a laugh I left after waisting some of my time. When the earthquake struck we were at the worksite it was maybe 4:30-5 pm time window we had just finished packing up and I was still inside the building, some others were as well, but many were outside washing. The building stood up I have not inspected it yet, but think only minor damage 1 or 2 block walls may be cracked/tumbled. Large sections of the perimeter wall that surrounds the site has fallen and will need to be rebuilt. The structure of the building is intact. As I ran out of the building the earth by that time was shaking very hard not easy to run. Out of my eye, I saw one block wall tumble beside me, within a few feet I did not get hit. One of our workers was hit with some other blocks that fell. He had some scrapes most not too deep, but complained about a lot of pain in his back. Audet our nurse looked at him once we got back to the house she thought he was okay, but he still complained about a lot of pain however, by the next day he seemed to be much better and walking fairly normally. Last I saw seemed he was good. Our area seemed to have survived fairly well. We only had one house in the ravine immediately behind us collapse there were however some injuries in the area. We set up a little clinic at our gate at tended to the needs. Once the word got our, more people started coming, but the number was quite manageable most were fairly small injuries requiring cleaning bandaging and many stitches. There were a couple of cases at least that we well beyond that. We provided basic medical and told the parents that they needed more. Throughout the city, some buildings collapsed completely and some seriously damaged - barely left standing. Of course there is also a high percentage (guessing 25-35% that suffered no damage). With the housing in our area most only received minor damage, but many walls on the perimeter of the property fell. The buildings that were seriously damaged were mostly larger buildings churches, schools, apartment buildings, businesses. I do not have any access to news so, I can only tell you what I have seen so might be somewhat limited in scope. I understand that the quake was fairly local to the capital city here in Port au Prince. About 9 oclock on Tuesday evening, we got word that a school had collapsed, It is attached to a church at Delmas 31 (Church of the Rock) it is a small school and it collapsed the first floor completely, the top floor partially (about 1/3 of it completely). One of our boys from the church was trapped inside on the first floor another girl from the church was on the top floor and was able to escape from the damaged building after the quake. We decided that we should put our focus on this problem. A number of the girls in our church are studying to become nurses, so they prepared medical aid to take along with the team. We went down to help out. To make a long story short, I have spent almost every moment of the last 48hrs or so at that school. I have had great support from our youth in stepping in and helping out including medical at that sight and helping out with the recovery plans etc. I assessed the situation and those that were currently working on it. A few people had opened up passage ways into those trapped using hammers, sledge hammers etc to work their way through the twisted metal, concrete and debris. I decided that we has some tools to assist so first trip, I brought a floodlight and some hand tools. When I returned, I was able to reassess the situation further and have some discussion with those working on getting trapped people out. I made trip number two and brought in a little heavier equipment the generator and an electric hammer. Before I brought it into the site, I determined a plan with those already onsite and then offered the equipment. My role became more of a backup problem solver when things didnt work lights etc, I got them working when then didnt know how to use the grinder, and other tools I gave an impromptu lesson. Not before long, people from the site were coming to me to solve their problems with tools etc. The tools that I brought I am happy to say were all returned and they served a very useful purpose at the site. We worked all night and in the early morning the first person that we were trying to reach had died before we got to them. A little after that we were able to reach a person and bring them out. We got one out alive. We then worked all the next day and well into the night. We were successful in reaching others, but the way they were trapped made it impossible for us to free them with our equipment. One of the other men working that had connections and was able to bring in a specialized team on the site. They brought in big equipment a high hoe and a big front end loader. With these equipment they were easily able to remove rubble and break through concrete, but the issue was how to build and fine tune the process. What they did was to clear and access point into the first floor area. From there we were able to determine locations of some of the individuals. By 1 or 2 am of Thursday morning they were able to rescue another boy. That is now two saved by the end of the morning 2 others had been rescued sadly no others were. In the process another 18 or so others were recovered. I provided the small equipment to complement the big equipment. We used the electric hammer to cut through each layer from the roof down (now about 3 feet per floor) to get to them. And then moved even more slowly as we got closer. Tonight is the first time that I have stopped (I havent yet, but will) since the earthquake. I have either been at the school or running errands from the school. The kids here from the church at Pastor Michels have been great. They have responded to the situation and have jumped right in as well. There is so much that I could and should write. I cant right now I have been running and cant even process it. I have seen so much destruction, people with all kinds of injuries and bodies of some that did not make it. Many of course of the ones that didnt make it are still trapped in the rubble. The smell of death is prominent in the city. The boy from our church that we had hoped to find and to bring out alive. He was the very last body recovered at the school. A very promising young man and studying theology at the school. He was becoming a Pastor and actively involved here at Pastor Michels. His body was recovered around mid day. At the wishes of his family we buried him this afternoon. At some point, a service will follow. We are doing okay kind of on autopilot right now. It has been very long and hard past couple of days with only little catnaps. Not sleeping indoors we are still experiencing tremors I just had one while I was writing this note. All is well. You likely will NOT hear from me again for a couple of days at least. I have very limited battery power on my UPS that I just bought and NO other power. Hope to solve that over the next day or two. Drinking water and seeing if I can get food is also starting to come up on the list. Trust me all is well especially considering the situation. So far it is calm here in the city and people are mostly very co-operative. I do expect that to change. The youth prison suffered damage and many prisoners escaped. The main police building in our area collapsed and I believe it was 42 police men were killed. I have a large number of e-mail messages and thank you for your concern and especially for your prayer support. I have not read your messages need to solve my power problem first. I do not have phone support. Bob --------------------------------------------- 14 January, 2010 6.24 pmThis will be a short message, perhaps a longer one will follow. We had an earthquake here in Haiti on Tuesday afternoon at about 5 oclock. I have been running since. I have tried a few times to make contact but all have failed. I think this message will go. Dealing with some things here obviously there was impact here in the city with multiple buildings collapsing completely and many others severely damaged. Just to say I am ok Bob
|
