Getting food, water and medical supplies to Haitians is top priority in US relief efforts

US working to get food, water to quake victims

WASHINGTON — Two officials leading the U.S. government’s relief efforts in Haiti said Sunday the focus is on rescue efforts and getting food, water and medical supplies to earthquake victims.

Lt. Gen. Ken Keen of the U.S. Southern Command called the situation “a disaster of epic proportions with tremendous logistical challenges.”

Officials believe that 100,000 or more people died in the magnitude-7.0 quake that struck the impoverished country on Tuesday.

Rajiv Shah, who leads the U.S. Agency for International Development, said U.S. relief workers are also trying to rescue people from under the damaged and destroyed buildings.

“Our first priority was to go in with urban search and rescue teams,” said Shah, who visit Haiti on Saturday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. “They work around the clock to try and save lives.”

Rescuers, he said, still hoped to find more survivors buried in the rubble.

“On next priority, which started in parallel, was getting those commodities down there and making sure we have the food, water, shelter and basic needs met for the people of Haiti,” Shah said.

Keen said that while the streets had largely remained calm, “there are increasing incidents of violence.”

“We do need, obviously, a safe and secure environment to continue and do the best we can with the humanitarian assistance,” he said.

He said U.S. forces are working closely with the United Nations, which has maintained peacekeepers in Haiti in for years.

The police, he said, “have been devastated,” but are beginning to reappear on the streets to help with security.

Keen and Shah appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and “Fox News Sunday — two of five Sunday shows they were being interviewed on.

On the Net:

USAID: www.usaid.gov/

U.S. Southern Command: www.southcom.mil