- Title: HAITI: Buses run shops reopen and residents seek visas amid Haiti's rubble
- Date: 23rd January 2010
- Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (JANUARY 22, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STREET SCENES WITH PEOPLE WALKING AMONG RUBBLE AND CARS AND TAPTAP DRIVING DOWN STREET DESTROYED BUILDING VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF BANK (SCOTIABANK/ BANQUE NATIONAL SIGNS) MAN CARRYING CEMENT MIX TO REPAIR BUILDING EXTERIOR OF " STAR 2000" SUPERMARKET LOCK ON SUPERMARKET PEOPLE WALKING INTO OPEN SUPERMARKET VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BUYING PRODUCTS IN SUPERMARKET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED SUPERMARKET OWNER SAYING: "Everything was on the floor. All the products fell down. We've taken charge again. We cleaned everything up and reorganized the market. We hope that everything will continue and that we will receive merchandise to sell." VARIOUS OF SECURITY VIDEO SHOWING DAMAGED SUPERMARKET VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SHOPPING AT OPEN STORE VARIOUS OF GAS STATION WITH PEOPLE FILLING UP EXTERIOR OF IMMIGRATION OFFICE WITH HAITIANS IN QUEUE POLICE OFFICER PULLING MAN DOWN CROWD RUSHING TO OPEN IMMIGRATION OFFICE
- Embargoed: 7th February 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Haiti
- Country: Haiti
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA89IAXRTNXS0YD0R13Q0B2MZE9
- Story Text: Amid the devastation, signs of daily life resumed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Friday (January 22) as cash became available, shops opened, and earthquake survivors tried to leave the country.
Taptaps, Haiti's small, colorfully decorated private buses, circulated in Port-au-Prince, sharing streets with the pedestrians and motorists.
Banks were scheduled to reopen on Saturday and money transfer agencies did brisk business after opening earlier in the day.
A large supermarket, Star 2000 Market, reopened, selling everything from slabs of ham to cleaning products. But the store manager said they had limited supplies of stocks left and had received no deliveries.
"Everything was on the floor. All the products fell down. We've taken charge again. We cleaned everything up and reorganized the market. We hope that everything will continue and that we will receive merchandise to sell," he said.
Haitians are realizing it could take months or years to regain some sense of normalcy.
For some, especially those who have relatives outside the country, the wait is too much.
Hundreds of Haitians jostled in line at the immigration office, eager for a visa to leave country.
"I'm trying to get my passport to leave the country because everything's shaking," said one woman.
Despite the signs of normalcy, scars of devastation were evident across the capital as Haitians struggled to find food, water and medical care.
This local politician estimates that hundreds of bodies are still buried under the Catherine Flon School where afternoon classes were in full swing when the quake struck.
"It's very sad... the Catherine Flon School brings together over 10,000 students. Thank God the school operates in two sessions. There were students who had already left school and it was the night students that were working. We estimate that there could be anywhere from 250 to 300 dead," he said, adding that no help has yet to arrive to help dig out corpses.
Up to 1.5 million Haitians lost their homes in the January 12 earthquake that rocked the small Caribbean country, devastated its capital Port-au-Prince and killed up to 200,000.
Relief agencies estimated one-third of Haiti's 9 million people would need emergency food, water and shelter for an extended period. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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