Coast Guard news:

Coast Guard in Action – January 13, 2010
By cbraesch ⋅ January 13, 2010
Haiti Relief

Around 5 p.m. EST yesterday, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake centered 10 nautical miles south of Port Au Prince, Haiti. CGC Forward arrived off Port Au Prince this morning, equipped with a helicopter flight deck, satellite communications equipment, and the ability to provide coordination to military aircraft in the area. The CGC Mohawk, is scheduled to arrive this afternoon. Two Coast Guard C-130 airplanes from Air Station Clearwater are flying the coast of Western Haiti this morning providing damage assessments and searching for people in need of assistance. Two Coast Guard helicopters are also forward deployed in the area to provide rescue or other assistance as needed.

Two more cutters, CGC Tahoma and CGC Valiant, are standing by for tasking as directed.

The President designated the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Dr. Raj Shah, to be the Unified Disaster Coordinator. United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) has activated a crisis action team to assess the situation and Department of State has implemented the Disaster Response Plan to support efforts in Haiti. Other Department of Homeland Security and U.S. assets are also responding.