Florida DCF, Red Cross help 180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport

DCF, Red Cross help 180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport

By Susan Jacobson and Anika Myers Palm

Orlando Sentinel

2:55 a.m. EST, January 17, 2010


Dr. Manoucheka Vieux doesn't know if she'll ever see her husband again.

A police inspector in Haiti, he never came home after Tuesday's devastating earthquake, and she hasn't been able to reach him since.

Fearful that disease from decomposing bodies in Haiti would harm their 10-month-old son, Chrys Valin, Vieux, a general practitioner, fled to Central Florida on Saturday with her baby. She was one of 180 people who landed at Orlando Sanford International Airport just after 5 p.m. on a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport airplane.

More than six hours later, Vieux was settling into a room at the Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel and recounting her ordeal. Her immediate plan was to fly to South Florida today to stay with her sister. Beyond that, "I don't know," an exhausted Vieux said. "I just want to see my baby safe. I'm living with hope to see my husband again."

Vieux and the other passengers received free hotel stays courtesy of the state Department of Children and Families, which also helped them connect with family and friends in the U.S. The American Red Cross was among the other agencies that assisted the evacuees, including a handful of people who left the airplane in wheelchairs.
read more here
180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport


also
Exclusive Haiti Earthquake Video
Sunday, January 17, 2010 10:50:29 AM
ORLANDO -- Central Florida got a unique view of the deadly earthquake in Haiti from right in the middle of it all.

News 13’s Christine Webb and the Orlando-based New Missions outreach group were stranded in the country after the quake hit Tuesday.

A New Missions videographer caught the quake as it was happening. The video was taken at the New Missions headquarters in Haiti southeast of Port-au-Prince.

The group, which also included several high school students from The First Academy, evacuated Haiti Friday, and flew into Orlando International Airport just after midnight Saturday. Christine and her fellow mission volunteers said they were grateful to be home.
Exclusive Haiti Earthquake Video