Haitian-Americans try to reach family, friends

MIAMI -- Teachers in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood used the simplest terms they could Wednesday to explain the devastating earthquake that rattled the small nation.

Their words were little comfort to students like first-grader Mitchelle Monroe, who said her grandmother recently arrived from Haiti but she did not know the whereabouts of other relatives.

She was among some 400 children who prayed during a solemn Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral.

"There was a lot of crying this morning, especially from the older ones," said the school's principal, Sister Jane Stoecker.

"The younger ones mostly see their parents' reactions, but the older ones know their parents are desperately trying to get in touch with family in Haiti and only about 1 percent have been able to get through," Stoecker said.

Haitian-Americans in Miami, New York and other U.S. cities told similar stories of frantically trying to reach relatives and friends to see if they survived the largest earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years.

Danglass Gregoire headed to Florida for a business trip Tuesday, leaving his wife and young daughter behind in Haiti, close to the epicenter of the 7.0 earthquake.

When he arrived at Miami International Airport, the 41-year-old said he wasn't sure if they were alive.

"I call. I call. I call. No one answers," he said.