Hanna and Haiti

From Miami.

Yesterday, the Team got up early, then found out they would have a day of down time. So, they took public transit and spent several hours at Miami Beach. According to Christian and Andrew, Evan was the only one at the beach practicing his own "version" of tai chi. They spent the evening getting caught up on communciation. And, today the Team heads back to the airport to await word on whether their 11:30 am flight will actually depart MIA for Port au Prince. From Christian's e-mail correspondence this morning:

This morning after missing our wake up call, and clock alarm...we got up in chaos, and then calmed down, got packed up, and headed for the airport. We got to the american ticket counter and told the agent what happened. She said it was no problem and then booked us for a flight at 11:30 this morning. We got to our gate and called our contact, caleb lucien, and told him everything would be okay and we would be to port au prince soon. He told us that he may not be able to get to port au prince to get us today because the weather is still rough, but to still give him a call from the airport when we land. Please pray for the communication with him when we land and pray that he has a way to come pick us up!

Hurricane Hanna Update
NASSAU, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Hanna drenched the Bahamas and triggered deadly flooding in Haiti on Tuesday, as it headed for expected landfall in the southeastern United States later this week.
In Haiti, authorities said heavy rains triggered by Hanna caused severe flooding in the northern port city of Gonaives, where thousands died four years ago during a similar catastrophe.
"The city is flooded and there are parts where the water gets to 2 meters (6.5 feet)," said civil protection director Alta Jean-Baptiste. "A lot of people have been climbing onto the tops of their houses since last night to escape the flooding."
Gonaives Police Commissioner Ernst Dorfeulle said at least 10 people had been killed in the floods.

From http://www.reliefweb.com/ On 2 September, Hanna downgraded to a Tropical Storm and is producing heavy rains over south-eastern Bahamas and Hispaniola. A tropical storm warning has been extended from the northern border of Dominican Republic to Port au Prince in Haiti. The Haitian provinces of Antibonite and Nord-Ouest are completely flooded and latest reports indicate the deaths of ten people. The city of Gonaive also woke up to find itself completely flooded, possibly affecting some 240,000 people. It has continued raining to date. Currently, there is no access by road or air to the affected areas. This made (aerial) assessments impossible. Through telephone calls received it became clear that people climbed to the roof tops of their houses and were still only two to three meters away from the flood waters. Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Date: 02 Sep 2008

The Team will be entering a country in a state of disaster and great need for emergency relief. Opportunites for serving ministries may be many. They will be traveling to a more central and mountainous region of Haiti -- less devestated by the storm. But because of Hanna's aftermath on the coast, the guys no longer have a scheduled small- plane in-country connection flight with Caleb Lucien, to Hosean Ministries. V-Team travel updates will be posted later today.

~KjL