Visited UNDP and UN Annex site first. Top three stories of the 5-story Annex Building had collapsed (see photos). They are going to salvage the remaining stories.

Then, made a quick visit to the Hotel Montana. Recovery operations are ongoing, possibly for another two weeks. Photo shows the shops area of the hotel.

Passed by the recently built U.S. Embassy. Did not try to go in. All looks fine.

In the afternoon, visited the Bureau of Mines and Energy. Had a long and good meeting with the General Director Mr. Dieuseul Anglade, Scientific Advisor Mr. Claude Preptit, and Technical Consultant Mr. Louis Pierre. They are gearing up to work with a French group to develop surface soil maps.

Stopped by Val's tent. He proudly showed his quarters. (see photo)

Surveyed and collected data on a nearby school; 3-story, first story collapsed. RC moment resistant frame with hollow concrete block infills. (see photo)

03/02 Met with AHEC (Association Haitienne des Entreprises de Construction) folks. Very concerned but calm group of engineers and architects. They asked if faculty from the USA could come and teach earthquake engineering in Haiti, several weeks or a semester at a time.

Photo on the left show "random houses" appearing on government property since mid-1980s.

AHEC folks told us that the building permits used to be issued by the Ministry of Public Works; but since about 2000, municipalities are given the right to issue permits (sounds very familiar). Which one cares about "long term" consequences more? Municipilities or the State?

We visited several hospitals -- difficult places to inspect. If they are in bad shape, not easy to go around and sanitation is an issue. If they are in good shape, there are patients and access is limited.

Checked out couple of hotels (Oasis --under construction-- and Karibe --Union School renovated as hotel three years ago; reinforced concrete block infill walls were added. Damage is mostly limited to infill walls. Saw only one column with captive-column induced shear failure. Not critical.

Weather is hot (30+ degC) and humid (est. 85%).
We took a break at the end of the day and visited the port. Heavy damage all over. US Navy working on the port.

Taptap -- very colorful minibuses adds to the traffic fun. Whenever there is a traffic light, folks obey, most of the time.


Gotta go. We have one line to Internet and several folks waiting in line.

Today, visited all ministries and a few schools. Damage is extensive. Only one ministry complex (Ministry of Youth and Sports) is in good shape. The main building used to be the Hotel Bellevue (const. 1968 est.). The Ministry of Agriculture building (see photo on the left) did not fare well.

Tomorrow, we hope to inspect several hospitals, schools and meet with the board members of the Association of Private Builders.

On the way to Port-au-Prince

2/28 Flight from Indianapolis to Miami yesterday afternoon was good. Incredible view of Miami as the plane made a round sweep over the Atlantic to land in Miami. 2.5 from INDY to MIA, 1.0 hr wait for the luggage.

Met with Reggie DesRoches, EERI recon team leader, and most of the team members over dinner. Everybody is in good spirit.

Learnt that I will be staying in the Pacot area apartment, on Rue S Chocotte, downtown area. ASCE TCLEE team will be in the same building; so will be about half of the EERI recon team. The rest will be in another apartment in Petionville district on the east. Checkout the great street maps of Port-au-Prince at http://openstreetmap.org/ .

Had to do last minute shopping (binder broke!). Taxi driver was from Haiti! Very nice man. I write more about what he said later.

Now at the Miami International airport. Two carry-ons; camera counts as third -- otherwise everything is smooth. American Airlines plane is set to take off in an hour. I shall add updates whenever I can from PaP. I am told that Internet access should be available but intermittently. We will all see. Until then.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Justin, Steve and Walter flew out of haiti, after conducting some humanitarian work.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Walter, Justin and Steve will stay one more day to collect more data and to reinstall one of the seismographic stations.  Glenn and Marc fly home in a C-17, along with members of a search and rescue team..

Monday, February 1, 2010

Justin and Walter collected data from the four installed seismographic stations.  One of the stations needs to be relocated.  Glenn met with the GEER team at the port.  Steve and Marc visited the IDEJEN nonprofit building, the CARE-Haiti compound and the Union School, which many of the children of embassy personnel attend.


The headquarters of CARE-Haiti

The IDEJEN Building.  

 

The European Union Building

 

The Union School