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Haiti Earthquake: Rescuers Search for Survivors, Death Toll Climbs to 1,297 as Storm Nears

Patients accompanied by their relatives are seen outside a hospital damaged following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes,There are reports of hospitals being overwhelmed in the city of Les Cayes

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-latin-america-58216614

BBC- Officials in Haiti have confirmed at least 1,297 people are dead after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean nation on Saturday.

Rescuers are picking through rubble in a desperate search for any survivors.

Homes, churches and schools were among buildings flattened in the quake. Some hospitals were left overwhelmed and in need of supplies.

An unknown number of people are missing and about 5,700 have been injured, officials say.

The disaster compounds problems facing the impoverished nation, which is already reeling from a political crisis following the assassination of its president last month.

The south-west of Haiti appears to have suffered the worst of the damage, especially around the city of Les Cayes.

Footage on social media showed residents desperately trying to pull victims from ruined buildings.

“The streets are filled with screaming,” Archdeacon Abiade Lozama, head of an Anglican church in Les Cayes, told the New York Times. “People are searching, for loved ones or resources, medical help, water.”

The epicentre of Saturday’s quake was about 12km (7.5 miles) from the town of Saint-Louis du Sud, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

But the tremor could be felt in the densely-populated capital of Port-au-Prince, some 125km away, and in neighbouring countries.

Map
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Prime Minister Ariel Henry declared a month-long state of emergency and urged the population to “show solidarity”.

“The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” he said on Saturday. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”

The international community has promised to help.

US President Joe Biden said he had authorised an “immediate US response” through USAID. The UN also said it was supporting the rescue effort.

The neighbouring Dominican Republic has offered to send food and medical equipment, with Cuba also reportedly deploying more than 250 doctors.

Jerry Chandler, the head of the Haiti’s civil protection agency, said on Sunday that in the South department, where Les Cayes is situated, about 1,500 houses had been completely destroyed and 3,000 damaged.

“In Nippes [department], there are 899 houses destroyed and 723 houses damaged. In the Grande’Anse department, there are 469 houses destroyed and 1,687 houses damaged,” he added.

He warned that Tropical Storm Grace, which is approaching the country, is “likely to make matters worse” in the coming days.

The Pope offered prayers for the victims during a Sunday address and expressed hope that aid would arrive soon.

Aftershocks were felt after the initial tremor, with the USGS initially warning the earthquake could result in thousands of fatalities and injuries.

A 2010 earthquake in Haiti killed more than 200,000 people and caused extensive damage to the country’s infrastructure and economy.

People walk in a market as they go about their lives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 24, 2021

Reuters

Haiti: Key facts

  • 11 million inhabitants
  • 59%percentage who live below the poverty line
  • 2004-2017years in which a UN peacekeeping force was present
  • 200,000number of people killed in the 2010 earthquake

Source: BBC Monitoring

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For Haitians, quake reawakens trauma of disaster a decade ago

By and
4 minute read
People look for survivors at a house destroyed following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti August 14, 2021. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol

People look for survivors at a house destroyed following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti August 14, 2021. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 15 (Reuters) – When Lydie Jean-Baptiste saw her neighbors running from their homes on Saturday and felt the ground begin to shake beneath her feet, the 62-year-old Haitian was flooded by terrifying memories of the earthquake a decade ago that devastated her hometown.

For many in the poor Caribbean nation, Saturday’s major quake – which killed more than 300 people and left hundreds injured – revived the trauma of the Jan. 12, 2010 temblor from which the country was still reeling. read more

“The neighbors, I saw them running and running. I said ‘What’s wrong?’ They said ‘Earthquake!’ and I rushed to the front door,” Jean-Baptiste said. “All of a sudden, I had all those images of January 12 coming to my mind and I felt really, really scared.”

Her neighborhood of Delmas, in the southern outskirts of Port-au-Prince, was tossed by Saturday’s quake, whose epicenter was some 150 km (90 miles) to the west of the capital.

But in 2010, the tremor struck much closer, leveling many of the houses in her neighborhood and across the capital.

Estimates of the number of dead from that tremor vary widely, from below 100,000 to as high as the government’s 316,000.

When the 2010 quake struck just before 5 pm, Jean-Baptiste was covered in debris in her office and had to walk home through the wreckage of familiar streets.

“People had their head cut off, corpses, everything. For 48 hours, I just felt like: Am I alive? Did I awake somewhere else?” Jean-Baptiste said, adding it took her nearly a year before she was able to sleep under her own roof without worrying it would collapse.

“The trauma is coming back. I am home and we are just wondering, are we sleeping inside? Are we going to sleep on the veranda?”

Her worries were echoed by Haitians across the south of the country, with some in the worst-affected areas saying they preferred to sleep outdoors than worry about the roof crashing down on them.

“There are aftershocks every now and then, so I will be sleeping outside,” said Yvon Pierre, 69, former mayor of Saint Louis du Sud, now living in Les Cayes.

“I am strong but this affected me psychologically and that is probably the same as the rest of the population.”

Saturday’s earthquake came from the same system of seismic faults as the massive tremor that convulsed Port-au-Prince in 2010, running east to west across the nation.

Haiti – the poorest nation in the Americas – still bears the scars of the 2010 quake, with its infrastructure and economy weakened.

Iconic buildings, including the Notre Dame l’Assomption cathedral, have not been rebuilt, while tens of thousands of people still live in provisional housing.

Efforts to rebuild have been hampered by a flawed international aid system, corruption and political turmoil, experts said. Just last month, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated at his home.

Fonie Pierre, director of Catholic Relief Services for Les Cayes, 49, said Saturday’s quake was so strong that she could not bring herself to move, and as she stood there in her home, she had flashbacks from 2010.

She had traveled from Les Cayes to the capital days after the tremor and seen corpses piled up on the side of the road.

“It brought back to my mind’s eye the dead bodies, the white dust of homes crumbling” said Pierre. “I thought: this is it, it’s the same thing.”

Haiti had been struck by calamity after calamity – and now also has to face Tropical Storm Grace, on track to blow through the nation early next week, she lamented.

“It’s as if the sky were falling in on us,” she said. “And you ask yourself: What have we done to deserve this?”

Reporting by Andre Paultre in Port-au-Prince, Kate Chappell in Kingston and Sarah Marsh in Havana; Writing by Daniel Flynn and Sarah Marsh; Editing by Christopher Cushing
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Brian Henderson farewelled in small private funeral

Legendary broadcaster Brian Henderson has been farewelled in a small private funeral in Sydney.

Henderson hosted the Sydney weeknight news for Nine from 1957 until his retirement in 2002, becoming Australia's longest-serving news presenter.

He died earlier this month aged 89 after a long battle with cancer, but not before planning his own funeral.

READ MORE: Legendary broadcaster Brian Henderson has died aged 89

"No you're not hearing things, obviously this is pre-recorded," a voiceover told the funeral.

"I was lucky enough to do a job I loved and led a full and happy life, so don't be sad."

Watch the full video above.

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How the Delta Variant Took Over the US, World Stats

By Justine Coleman
The Hill

The delta variant has overtaken the U.S. in a matter of weeks as it spreads around the world in what President Biden’s chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci called a “global outbreak” of the strain.

The highly contagious variant of COVID-19 is considered at least two times more contagious than the previously dominant alpha strain, and experts say the increased transmissibility has likely fueled the surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths nationwide.

But much is still unknown about delta as scientists scramble to better understand the strain.

Here’s what we know about the delta strain and how it blunted earlier momentum in the fight against the coronavirus.


Delta is more transmissible than previous COVID-19 strains

Delta’s contagiousness is considered key to its domination, having spread to at least 117 countries after first being detected in India. Like other viruses, COVID-19 is evolving, particularly through unplanned mutations.

A study from the United Kingdom in May suggested the delta strain could be 60 percent more transmissible than the alpha variant, which was already more contagious than the original strain.

But experts are split on that figure, with some saying delta could be more transmissible and others saying it could be less.

“You don’t necessarily want to attribute that all to the virus. You know, a lot of it may reflect the people as well,” said David Dowdy, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Researchers aren’t certain about what makes the delta variant more transmissible, but there are some clues.

Michael Farzan, head of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research, said one of the variant’s advantages is that it can more strongly attach to a certain receptor when spreading in the body.

“This is one of the reasons why the virus … in a person gets made at a higher level, meaning that there’s a lot more being spit out or coughed out, meaning that it’s more likely to hit the next person,” he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has its own figures illustrating how the strain became so prevalent this summer. The agency’s latest projection is that 97.4 percent of all coronavirus cases come from all the different lineages of the delta variant, as of the week ending last weekend.

That marks an astronomical increase from the 1.6 percent estimated at the beginning of May and the 14.1 percent from the beginning of June.

Most people infected with COVID-19 at this point won’t know for sure whether they contracted the delta strain since available testing doesn’t make the distinction between strains — it only shows whether the virus itself is present.

It has a higher magnitude of viral loads

Health experts are examining the delta variant’s viral load, the measure of how much virus a person carries and can potentially transmit, compared to previous COVID-19 strains.

A study from China suggested that the strain’s viral load could be more than 1,000 times higher than the original strain, which Fauci on Thursday said “is a mechanistic reason why you have such a tremendous increase in transmissibility.”

Basically a higher viral load can make it more likely that an infected person can “shed” the virus, allowing someone nearby to contract it.

“If a little droplet that you sent out, it has more particles and that means it’s more likely to infect the next person over and it’s more likely to infect the next person over more times,” Farzan said.

Dowdy of Johns Hopkins cautioned that other variables, including people’s behavior, may be influencing how scientists understand delta’s viral load. With more people relaxing their COVID-19 precautions and interacting with others indoors, those same people could contract more of the virus than they might otherwise.

A study of a Massachusetts outbreak indicated that delta led to fully vaccinated people having a similar viral load compared to the unvaccinated, sparking the CDC to update its mask guidance late last month.

The outbreak on Cape Cod, where nearly three-quarters of confirmed cases were among fully vaccinated people, suggested that vaccinated people could potentially transmit and spread the delta variant. But researchers said at the time that microbiological studies would be needed to confirm whether vaccinated individuals can transmit the strain.

Vaccines are still effective against delta

Studies have found that at least five vaccines, including all three used in the U.S., are effective against the delta variant in lab and real-world settings, Fauci said on Thursday.

It was previously unclear whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one dose instead of two, was equally effective. But a study released last week found the immune response lasted at least eight months, resulting in the first real-world data for the vaccine, Fauci said.

Recent studies have indicated that vaccines may see a very slight dip in effectiveness against symptomatic versions of the coronavirus caused by the delta variant. The COVID-19 vaccines, like any other, are also not perfect at preventing all delta infection and illness.

But scientists agree that studies have demonstrated that the vaccinated population is less likely to get infected and much less likely to be hospitalized or die from the delta variant than the unvaccinated.

“The only reason our case numbers are lower now than they were back in December is because half of our population has been fully vaccinated,” Dowdy said.

Still more to learn

Experts acknowledge there is much more to learn about the delta variant.

“A big thing is we still don’t know how much of what we’re seeing is due to the virus versus due to behavior,” Dowdy said. “That makes a big difference because things that are due to the virus, we can’t really change as a society.”

Although there’s a growing number of studies, not all scientists are certain that the variant itself necessarily causes more serious illness among the unvaccinated, leading to more hospitalizations and deaths. It’s also unclear whether the strain is sparking more severe illness among children as pediatric hospital admissions have picked up.

Additionally, scientists have more analysis to do on under-researched mutations that may give the virus more of an advantage, Farzan said.

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WORLD STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

208,020,823

Deaths:

4,375,029

Recovered:

186,489,178
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)

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Latest News

August 16 (GMT)

Updates

  • 17,836 new cases and 8 new deaths in Japan [source]
  • 522 new cases and 8 new deaths in Ghana [source]
  • 9,295 new cases and 213 new deaths in Mexico [source]

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State-of-the-Art $4million Gingerland School Wing Nears Completion

NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (August 13, 2021) — The construction of a multi-million-dollar, state of-the-art multi-purpose technical wing at the Gingerland Secondary School is nearing completion.

Hon. Troy Liburd, Junior Minister of Education, made the disclosure during a tour of the site on August 12, 2021, with his Cabinet colleagues led by Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis. 

“Very happy this morning to welcome the Cabinet, the Premier and other Cabinet colleagues to a visit here at the Gingerland Secondary School at the [Technical and Vocational Education and Training] TVET wing which is just about 90 percent completed. This project would have started sometime last year. I believe about 13 months ago and we are now nearing completion…

“It is part of the wider TVET project that has been happening here on Nevis for some time… Our contractors on this project were Lefco [Equipment Rentals & Construction Co. Ltd.], and the consultants on the project were FDL Consult Inc. out of St. Lucia. So, the project is set to be completed at the end of this month and then we would have some remedial work and to move in all of the equipment and so on and then the Gingerland Secondary School would have access to the building shortly.

Mr. Liburd expressed hope that the project would be of benefit to the island’s youth as the NIA strives to bring technical and vocational subjects to them.

The Junior Education Minister also spoke of the type of classrooms which will be housed in the 4,800 sq. ft. two-storey building.

“The classrooms to be housed in the building when it’s complete would be a woodwork shop, technical drawing classrooms, electricity, cosmetology and there would be some general classrooms,” he said.

On completion of the $4million project, a similar but larger building will be constructed at the Charlestown Secondary School (CSS) to house the TVET programme there. Construction is expected to commence by 2022.

Both projects on Nevis form part of the wider $8million St. Kitts and Nevis TVET Enhancement Project which is funded by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Also present on the tour were Hon. Alexis Jeffers, Deputy Premier of Nevis; Hon. Eric Evelyn, Hon. Spencer Brand; Mr. Stedmond Tross, Cabinet Secretary; Mrs.  Hélène Anne Lewis

Legal Advisor to the NIA; Mr. Darius Cumberbatch, Engineer for FDL Consult Inc.; Mr. Lester Blackett, Project Manager; and Mr. Dorson Ottley, TVET Officer at the Department of Education.

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ADF troops sent to Afghanistan to evacuate hundreds of citizens

More than 250 Australian Defence Force troops are being sent to Afghanistan to help with evacuations.

The Taliban has declared the war in Afghanistan is over after insurgents stormed the capital Kabul and the President fled the country.

Now countries around the world are urgently trying to evacuate their citizens from the volatile and fast-changing situation.

READ MORE: What life will be like under the Taliban in Afghanistan

There are 130 Australian citizens and more than 200 former embassy guards and interpreters in the country.

The Department of Defence confirmed this evening personnel have already been deployed on a KC-30A which left Amberley in Queensland today.

It will land at Australia's main operating base in the Middle East to assist the US-led operations.

"Two C-17A Globemasters will also depart for the Middle East later this week," a statement from the department said.

"The situation in Afghanistan remains highly volatile and dangerous.

"Defence is taking all necessary precautions to protect its people and those authorised for evacuation. The mission will be constantly assessed against the latest developments.

"Australia's evacuation efforts are being closely coordinated with international partners."

A joint statement from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Minister for Defence Peter Dutton, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said the situation is volatile.

British soldiers arrive in Kabul to rescue British nationals in Afghanistan as the security situation worsens.

READ MORE: Chaos in Kabul: How Afghanistan disintegrated and what comes next

"The situation on the ground in Kabul, as in the rest of Afghanistan, is evolving rapidly," the statement said.

"As in any crisis situation, the Australian Government's priority is to ensure the safety of its citizens.

"We have over 130 Australians in Afghanistan, working in the UN, NGOs, and elsewhere, and we are working to bring them and their families home.

"We are also assisting those who have been granted humanitarian visas, and others who are in the process of applying for protection."

The government is working with the US, UK, Canada, and other allies and partners.

The statement warned the Taliban "will be held fully accountable for any killing or other mistreatment of Afghan military and other security forces who have surrendered or been captured" and said people should be allowed to leave safely.

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Interest in Nevis ‘Yes To Success’ – Youth Skills Training, Diversion Programme on the Up  

NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (August 13, 2021) — The Department of Social Services’ Yes To Success (YTS) Youth Skills Training and Diversion programme, which will enter its 7th Cycle, from Monday August 16, 2021, continues to grow.

Speaking on the success of the programme so far, Mrs. Sandra Maynard Morton, Director of Social Services said on August 11, 2021, that it continues help participants to succeed in the wider community.

“The programme is still growing. We are trying to stay focused on who it is meant to serve with the knowledge that young people who are more academically inclined may find it easier to compete in the world of work and life in general, so those that we target, we work hard with them to give them an edge.

“It is always good to see them succeed, complete the programme, get long-term work even go on to other technical programmes, as this raises their confidence and sets them on a good path in life. Some can be challenging to work with. We anticipate drop outs every year but overall we are pleased with the outcomes of YTS thus far,” she said.

The programme, which targets school leavers and older youth up to the age of 25 years, is a three-month skills training programme.

“The programme is strictly targeted to those who are not heavily academically inclined but have the potential to succeed in skilled work. It combines skills training, job preparation and other life skills sessions with a work internship to give the young persons a holistic experience. Its programming is also aimed at providing meaningful engagement to young persons to encourage them to steer clear of crime and violence.

“With good participation, the participants are paid a work stipend. Since 2015 the department has trained between 18 and 25 young persons annually, with an approximate 60 percent success rate of placing them in long-term employment up to 2018,” Ms. Maynard explained.

This year’s  training sessions were tailored in anticipation of the reopening of hotels and restaurants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and hopefully a surge in the construction industry, the director stated.

“The planning team at Social Services is offering Hospitality Preparedness Training, and Basic Plumbing, Electrical classes over the next three months to help boost the young person’s confidence in job search at hotels and in the construction industry.

“This year’s training will also incorporate several recreational videography training sessions to help keep the young persons interested,” she said.

The YTS programme is funded through the NIA’s recurring youth development funding and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Juvenile Justice Reform Project.

The training sessions are held at the YTS site at Pinney’s Estate which was officially opened on October 19, 2020. During the opening ceremony Hon. Eric Evelyn, Minister of  Social Development on Nevis, gave the programme his blessings.

 

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Aussie radio and TV personality Ernie Sigley dies aged 82

The ever-charming TV host, radio presenter and singer Ernie Sigley, best known as "the little Aussie battler", has passed away at age 82.

Ernie Sigley's lengthy media career began when he was just 14 and landed a job as a turntable operator on Danny Webb's radio breakfast program at 3DB Melbourne in 1952.

The Gold Logie winner's move to television didn't come much later, with Sigley making his on-screen debut hosting Teenage Mailbag on the Seven Network in 1956.

READ MORE: Melbourne's tough new COVID-19 restrictions explained

Ernie Sigley

He went on to host primetime's Adelaide Tonight on the Nine Network in the '60s and early '70s, before he took on his own national variety show, The Ernie Sigley Show in 1974.

It was on this show that Sigley was awarded the Gold Logie for best personality on Australian television in 1975.

The accolade was one of a staggering 21 Logies acquired by Sigley throughout his television career.

Sigley returned to radio in 1981 and went on to host 3AW's afternoon program for 12 years from 1996.

Sigley was also a singer, earning numerous number one hits — most notably with the 1974 duet 'Hey Paula' with Denise Drysdale.

Ernie Sigley

She has paid tribute to Sigley, saying, "I will cherish the memories of all the mischief we got up to together. He still makes me laugh just thinking about him. Love and respect, dear Ernie."

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Huge $350k in fines expected over illegal Melbourne engagement party

A massive $350,000 worth of fines are expected to be issued over an illegal engagement party held in Melbourne during coronavirus lockdown.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he is particularly "angry" and disappointed at the "selfish choices" of the 69 people who chose to defy lockdown by gathering at a Caulfield North home last week as he announced an escalation of the city's lockdown.

"I know many, many people are angry about that event. It should not have happened," Mr Andrews said.

LIVE UPDATES: Melbourne lockdown extended, curfew introduced

Tonight, the mother of the groom responded to the criticism, asking for understanding.

"We did wrong but the hate coming our way is just so mean… Look into your heart and try to find forgiveness," she said in a message.

Mr Andrews said there had been proven transmission of the virus at the party – with two COVID-19 cases having come from the gathering, leaving only the question of whether it will be deemed "a super spreader event”.

Mr Andrews said health authorities were being forced to spend "literally thousands of hours" dealing with the thousands of contacts of people who attended the party.

"That is the work they must do but it is all entirely preventable," he said.

"All of us have to make choices to limit the spread and not make selfish choices that add to it."

Mr Andrews said the party attendees' decisions also detracted and devalued the amazing work that millions of Victorians were doing to slow the spread of the Delta outbreak.

READ MORE: ACT lockdown extended by two weeks after 19 new cases recorded

Chief Police Commissioner Shane Patton slammed the party as "absolutely outrageous".

Commissioner Patton said he expected every partygoer, excluding children, to be handed a $5000 fine.

"There has to be consequences, so many people are doing the right thing and deferring their events," he said.

"That is why we are enforcing on this one. I did the maths, if you take off a few for each child, it will be over $350,000 of fines."

"That's an expensive engagement party."

A neighbour of the party hosts told 9News she was "very upset" by her neighbours' actions, saying it made her feel "very shameful and embarrassed".

A video of the party, showing dozens of people packed inside the private residence in Caulfield North, has been circulating on social media.

In the clip a man can be seen appearing to give an engagement speech and joking that the gathering was legal because it was a group therapy session.

Laughter from the crowd, which allegedly included a number of medical professionals, is heard before he thanks guests for attending

Melbourne's Lord Mayor Sally Capp earlier told Today the party was "incredibly disappointing and selfish".

"The fact that somebody has organised an engagement party and found it funny to be laughing at the illegal nature of that is incredibly disappointing and selfish," Ms Capp said.

With the party having included a number of members of the Jewish community, leaders of the community have faced backlash over the event.

Daniel Aghion, President of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, said his community was disappointed about the breach of restrictions, and had as a whole been very compliant with the lockdown.

"The community itself has been doing the hard yards," he said.

Mr Aghion said decisions to attend the party had nothing to do with religion.

The premier today also said the party was not reflective of the actions of the Jewish community in general.

Mr Andrews said the engagement party was just one example of many lockdown breaches that had been taking place, furthering Melbourne's lockdown.

Commissioner Patton said the number of breaches was "ridiculous" and police would be actively fining Victorians over them, referencing a Richmond pub crawl that occurred on Saturday, a Southbank dinner party and a Mornington dance party planned for the weekend with 1000 invitees.

He said incidents of people sitting in the street drinking were unacceptable and had to stop.

You can find out more information on the new restrictions announced here.