The Earth is Shaking
Excerpts from Ed Lockett’s moment by moment personal experiences from the first earthquake to the aftershocks four weeks later. (From Ed Lockett’s Facebook page. Compiled by Sharon Kiser.)
There are days when the unexpected happens. Then there are days when the unexpected happens and forever changes all the rest of your days. Such a day was January 12, 2010 for Ed Lockett (Field Coordinator in Haiti). As you journey with Ed through the reality of this devastating earthquake, you’ll experience, in these excerpts from his blog, the extreme heartbreak, loss, fear, and ruin. Yet, the one sure Hope, Jesus Christ, emerges above it all.
The day the earth shook
January 12: We have earthquakes and aftershocks shaking our world right now. PRAY. Buildings and houses are falling. We are in the streets filled with wounded, screaming, confused people. We are getting continual aftershocks. There are tsunami alerts, and we are near the water. Whatever happens, neither Haiti nor we will ever be the same.
7:00 AM January 13: The main stresser is the continual tremors. They continued all night. It’s like things have not settled yet. Even if we live to tell about this, Haiti is in the middle of a major catastrophe. This isn’t over yet.
Living in and through the first week
7:00 AM January 13: There is distant weeping and wailing. I hear helicopters. The sunrise this morning was very pretty; what it’s shedding light on is a nightmare. I keep hoping to wake up and find this was all a very bad dream, but it’s beginning to seem like it’s real. Phone lines are mostly down so we are unable to communicate even within Haiti. And with no electricity, the radio stations are all out.
1:00 PM January 13: Phones are still out. No power. No radio. The airport is closed. Most roads are impassable. Many have huge holes and massive debris.
3:43 PM January 13: The Red Cross has been collecting bodies here in Petit Goave. We are getting a radio station from Port-au-Prince (PaP) instructing folks how to deal with all the dead bodies.
8:20 AM January 14: It is still sinking in that we are alive after seeing the “end of the world,” but it is also sinking in how many thousands are not alive.
3:24 PM January 14: It’s a nightmare here. They are starting to dig mass graves for the many unclaimed bodies. In some areas, the smell is unbearable.
4:53 PM January 14: It is hell on earth. It will take years and years to rebuild here.
6:00 PM January 14: We passed one place and several families are camping under a string of sheets tied together. The kids came running out, all thrilled to see us. Some lost their homes. Even for those who didn’t, there is still no sleeping inside. We came back with a big sack of rice and some money to help them. We spent the morning checking in with people and gave out a couple hundred pounds of rice and a fair bit of money to help for the moment. Manno (Haitian pastor) and I are already making a list of huts to rebuild/replace.
6:48 PM January 14: The Lord is our Hope. Our strength. Our strong tower.
8:20 AM January 15: The main highway has thousands camping on it. Until the aftershocks stop, we are stuck in the day this started. It has all been one big long day to me.
A big issue here is trying to get news of loved ones. The waiting and not knowing is maddening. Students have not come back from school. People went to the store and haven’t been heard from since. With so many bodies piling up in so many places, mass graves are being dug and many bodies are buried with no identification. Some people will never know.
11:56 AM January 16: They are starting to get the bodies out of the rubble here. There is an open mass grave at the cemetery. The smell is unbearable. There are bodies strewn around. The alive are wandering, wailing, searching for family. Hunger is setting in.
So far, we are able to get basic foods and water. If help doesn’t get here soon, that will run out before long. We heard helicopters fly overhead, but nothing on the ground yet.
If anyone seeing this knows anybody coming in any official capacity, we are in the town of Petit Goave about 50 miles west of Port-au-Prince.
1:04 PM January 16: Nearly everywhere there is a pile of garbage in PaP; there are bodies as well. Words cannot begin to convey what is unfolding here.
2:12 PM January 16: I am sharing with the Haitian people about the vast army of people praying on our behalf. It is VERY encouraging to them. We are not alone. We are not forgotten and Christ, through us, can reach out and comfort those in despair. These things bring out the best in us and tend to give us more of heart like Jesus. COMPASSION.
7:34 PM January 16: Sounds run together. Crying babies. Sick kids. Laughing kids. Sick older folks. Anxious conversations and cell phones. Who is alive? Who is not? Dogs barking. Pieces of old carpet scrap being arranged for bedtime. Young men talking about what will happen next. All this under the tapestry of a bunch of old sheets. Everything is outside.
There are increasing numbers of dazed people wandering aimlessly.
8:45 PM January 16: By God’s grace, we have lived another day. Don’t know if we will wake up tomorrow here or in Heaven, but we are in His Hands. Though we are seeing darkly right now, He is our shield and Peace. We don’t know, He does, and for us, trusting is more important than knowing.
11:30 AM January 17: Give us this day, our daily bread.
3:00 PM January 17: Back from an encouraging church service. Outdoors, of course. Quite a few more people than normal. I shared with the church our brothers and sisters around the world were praying for us. I tried to make them know we are not forgotten and it’s still in God’s hands. It feels good when a helicopter passes over, even when they don’t stop. Makes us feel like somebody out there knows we’re here.
6:02 PM January 18: We’re still here. The tremors are still here. The ‘help’ on the way is still not here.
The second week
8:11 AM January 19: All of us continue to sleep outside. Food supplies are going down. Gas is at best, very hard to find. When a little comes in, there are long lines and fights at the gas station. The price has gone up considerably. We get NO news here of any kind of plans for help to arrive.
Eight days after the quake, helicopters pass overhead, but do not touch down. No soldiers or police in the streets. People’s nerves are getting thinner because many feel we are not on the help map, and we are just waiting to die. The tremors keep everyone on edge and feel if death doesn’t come by another earthquake, it will come by starvation.
7:34 PM January 16: Houses are death traps. Some had warning of a few blocks falling first and were able to get out just as a wall or roof came down. Some feeling the earth trembling actually panicked and ran into buildings for cover.
9:25 AM January 19: Sleeping in the streets, dealing with tremors, running out of food, no help coming, all this puts everything closer to the edge of a population earthquake. More and more thieves at night. Gunfire. Dogs bark. The nights are not restful, getting noisier and more dangerous. All in pitch black. If not for the Lord, we would perish with fear.
5:22 PM January 19: Small group of doctors from Wesleyan Mission started treating the severely wounded. I spent most of the day translating for them. Broken bones, smashed limbs, open head wounds, some needing amputations, it was hard to see.
6:24 PM January 19: Hopes of the people are going down. The ‘help on the way’ is still not here. I have come to hate the night. Now we don’t just pray “Give us this day our daily bread,” we pray, “Give us this day.”
4:43 PM January 20: Help is here! LOTS of help. Helicopters, doctors, bulldozers, Marines, police. Thank you so much for praying. Please don’t stop.
7:52 PM January 24: There was a little three-year-old girl at the clinic today. The mother said since the earthquake, the little girl has trouble sleeping. She wakes up trembling and jerking.
If not for the Lord…my ROCK, my Fortress, in Him will I REALLY trust.
The third and fourth week
7:12 PM January 26: They did a food handout here in Petit Goave today, and it got out of hand. Everyone is afraid there won’t be enough. Usually there isn’t, especially when bullies take more than their share.
7:25 PM January 26: We’re not eating well, but well, we’re eating.
7:27 PM January 26: And did I mention my heart would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. . .
8:54 AM January 27: We’re planning to do another feeding and clinic at the Lakul school today.
When will things get back to normal? Normal is gone.
6:00 PM January 28: Talked to Glen Dubois (President of MVI), and we are beginning to make big, awesome plans. There is definitely a window of opportunity here. Not to rebuild what was, but build something better.
6:04 PM January 28: Manno and I were looking at how many decisions we made and things we did over the last several months that all laid groundwork for the future. It’s amazing how the Lord was leading in things we did not understand, but now it is all beginning to make awesome sense.
7:31 PM February 15: We had a really good day. REALLY good. And another 1,000 pounds of rice and beans went out making it over 4,000 pounds the first day. A lot of thankful people will be eating tonight.
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