Devastation

Charleston disaster relief worker Jerry Miner knows the earthquake in Haiti could be the start of a human nightmare that has every chance of escalating.

"The information is the destruction is on the scale of the (Pacific) tsunami," said Miner, who works with West Ashley-based Water Missions International. "This is big and horrible."

Miner joined a collection of relief workers across South Carolina who moved fast to join the Haitian earthquake relief effort for a 7.0 temblor so strong it was picked up by monitor stations across the Palmetto State. As soon as today, Air Force Base C-17 cargo plane crews could be preparing for deployment.

Meanwhile, members of the state's small Haitian community struggled to contact loved ones back home.

"I feel heartbroken I'm here and I cannot help," said Kareen Forestal, who was born in the United States but grew up in Haiti and still has family there.

Of the crushed buildings she said, "I recognize every one of them."

By day's end, Water Missions International assembled 10 purification units for the island nation. "The water supply was difficult before," Miner said, adding that the response of the next few weeks will be critical in terms of human survival and combating disease.

South Carolina has a surprisingly high number of church missions and relief workers connected to Haiti, among them is Dottie Kelly of Mount Pleasant, who sells crafts made by Haitian women to American buyers so they can earn enough to survive. Judging by the pictures of the collapsed buildings, Kelly could tell the island has been devastated, probably for years to come.

"That's one of the most substantial buildings in (a Port-Au-Prince suburb)," Kelly said in reference to an image of a former five-story structure. "If it's gone, everything is gone."

Geologists said the 7.0 quake was picked up by seismometers across South Carolina, though officials advise that the Caribbean tremor should not be seen as an immediate warning indicator of alarm here.

Erin Beutel, of the S.C. Earthquake Education and Preparedness program at the College of Charleston, said that at 4:57 p.m. Tuesday -- just four minutes after the earthquake struck -- the first surface waves were detected on the sensitive seismometers in South Carolina.

Aid groups said the most important thing the public can do now is make a donation of money, food, clothing, medicines or toiletries.

"Pretty much everything that we would give to a disaster here in the U.S. they are going to need down in Haiti," said Marjorie Bowden of "There is Hope" ministries in North Charleston, who has been to the island nation 10 times helping with children and orphans.

Wade McGuinn, of the Columbia-based Haiti Children Project, said the best donation that someone can give in the short term, is to the Red Cross. Long-term, he said most people should wait to see what kind of on-the-ground work they can provide as a volunteer.

The immediate work will be in disaster "triage," he said, by bringing in sanitary conditions and clearing away tons of debris while a sense of law and order is established. The rebuilding will start while much of the population lives as refugees, he said. "Just like (Hurricane) Katrina, it will take forever," McGuinn said. "It will take years."

How to Help

Here is a list of organizations accepting donations for earthquake-stricken Haiti:

--Water Missions International is preparing water-purification systems for deployment to Haiti. Anyone who wants to help can do so online at www.watermissions.org or by calling 843-769-7395 or toll free 866-280-7107.

--To donate $10 to the American Red Cross, text "Haiti" to 90999. The amount will be added to your next phone bill. The organization also is accepting donations through its International Response Fund, www.redcross.org. You also can donate through your local Red Cross chapter by calling 843-764-2323 ext. 355 or make a secure donation online at www.LowcountryRedCross.org.

--To donate $5 to Wyclef Jean's Haitian Yele charity, text 501501. The money will be added to your next phone bill.

--To find out how to help the International Rescue Committee, visit www.theIRC.org or call toll free, 1-877-REFUGEE.

--To donate to Oxfam's emergency appeal, visit oxfam.org.uk

--InterAction, a coalition of U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations, has a list of agencies responding and how to donate to them. Find it at www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti

Family inquires: The State Department has set up a hot line for Americans to inquire about family in Haiti: 888-407-4747.

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