[MilCom] Fwd: [MilRadioComms] US to open additional runway in Haiti

[allanstern at aol.com]

U.S. To Open Additional Runway In Haiti, General Says
Operations Into Jacmel Expected By Mid-Week

As some 200 daily flights transit through the congested and sole  
functioning Haitian airport in the capital of Port-au-Prince, the US military is  
looking to open a second runway in the city of Jacmel within a day. The 
airfield  will receive C-130 deliveries that initially will support Canadian 
humanitarian  assistance efforts centered in the southern city about 30 miles 
southeast of the  Haitian capital, a military official said.
 
"The first [additional] runway in Haiti proper will go into operation in  th
e vicinity of Jacmel within the next 24 hours," Army Maj Gen Daniel Allyn, 
the  second in command of US operations in Haiti, told Pentagon reporters  
today.
 
Reports of bottlenecking at Toussaint Louverture IAP in Port-au-Prince have 
 emerged as the hub's capacity has grown from an average of 13 commercial  
aircraft arrivals daily before a magnitude 7 earthquake struck Jan 12 to the 
 present level of more than 200 flights.
 
As international support continues to flow into Haiti amid what one  
official has called one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies in the history  
of the Americas, the US military has looked outside the capital for areas to  
receive the additional provisions, equipment and personnel. "We are 
obviously  very conscious of the need to have multiple ports of entry," said Allyn, 
adding  that the U.S. military assessed the site at Jacmel yesterday during 
a helicopter  delivery of food and supplies to the area.
 
In addition to the strip in Jacmel, officials hope to improve logistics  
from San Isidro in the neighboring Dominican Republic to affected areas in  
Haiti.
 
Original estimates by the Red Cross were that upwards of 50,000 people were 
 killed in the quake, with 3 million Haitians affected, but other reports  
elevated the estimated death count at 100,000 to 200,000.
 
The top priority now is to distribute supplies that are building on the  
ground as they continue being delivered by the Defense Department and  
international contributors, the general said. A C-17 Globemaster III transport  jet 
flew from Pope AFB, NC, yesterday and airdropped nearly 15,000 meals and  
more than 15,000 liters of water to people in northeastern Port-au-Prince. 
"This  aerial delivery augments our ongoing relief efforts and continues to 
extend our  reach to the stricken," said Allyn, adding that the United States 
has delivered  more than 400,000 bottles of water and 300,000 rations to the 
people of Haiti in  the past six days.
 
About half of the 7000 US troops in Haiti -- 2000 on the ground and more  
than 5000 afloat off the Haitian coast -- are directly involved in delivering 
 humanitarian assistance ashore, he said. The number of U.S. forces 
operating in  and around Haiti is expected to rise to more than 10,000 by the end 
of the day,  a defense official said.
 
AL STERN  Satellite Beach  FL
AllanStern at aol.com
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