'Not knowing is the hardest part'

A second wave of U.S. citizens evacuated from Haiti arrived Friday at Charleston International Airport and were generally in good shape physically, but some were devastated by what they had seen.

Barbara Celin, 26, of Fort Myers, Fla., said she spent 10 days in Port-au-Prince searching unsuccessfully for her father and two brothers who are residents of the island nation.

"Not knowing is the hardest part," she said.

She found her four nieces and nephews living on the streets of the capitol city.

"It's a very sad, devastating moment right now and it's surreal. I still don't believe that an earthquake actually happened. I'm still in the denial stage," Celin said.

Survivors told her that her father Moncene, 60, and brothers

Audin, 31, and Leforde, 30, were alive but she could not find them. Celin said she was not allowed to bring Ledforde's three children and Audin's child home with her. The children are ages 13, 10, 8 and 7 months. She was unable to find their mothers. She worried for the safety of the kids. "They are left in the streets," she said.

"The stress was just too much. It's too much. It's overwhelming. Ten days of searching will put a toll on you. Can't eat, can't sleep. Constantly in fear that you will find a lifeless body," Celin said.

Miami-born Celin said she has been to Haiti four times. She went to Haiti looking for her relatives because there was no phone service.

Three military C-17 transports brought Celin, her mother and 145 other Americans here Friday at 2:15 a.m., 5:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. By noon, most of the repatriated Americans were on to other destinations. A few remained, dozing and wrapped in blankets provided by the American Red Cross.

The flights that carried the Americans here earlier Friday had ferried relief supplies to Haiti, said Derrec Becker of the state Emergency Management Division. Those on the flights that arrived Friday included relief workers, Americans who lived in Haiti and some military members. "We've seen the gamut. There are a lot of people who lost everything," Becker said.

None of those on the Friday flights required hospitalization, although some were checked by doctors. "There have been no serious medical issue," Becker said.

Most of the U.S. citizens returning here caught connecting flights. Others rented cars. One of them bought a bus ticket for Greenville on Friday, Becker said.

More flights carrying Americans from Haiti were expected to arrive in Charleston on Saturday, possibly around midnight. "We're not exactly sure. It all depends on conditions on the ground in Haiti," Becker said.

On Thursday, the first flights through South Carolina arrived at the local airport after the government designated the state a repatriation site. Other flights from Haiti have been arriving in Florida and New Jersey. A planeload of 54 evacuees touched down in Charleston at 8:15 a.m. Thursday on a C-17 based out of Alaska. They were the first of an undetermined number of repatriation flights involving U.S. citizens that are expected to come through South Carolina in the coming weeks.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.