US Coast Guard assisting with evacuation of critically injured Haitians

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The U.S. Coast Guard is continuing to provide support to Haiti in the wake of last weekend’s deadly earthquake and the tropical storm conditions that followed.

The 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean country on Saturday and officials say the death toll has surpassed 2,100 people.

The quake is believed to have destroyed more than 7,000 homes and damaged more than 12,000 others, leaving about 30,000 families homeless, The Associated Press reports. Many schools, offices, and churches were also badly damaged.

To make matters worse for Haiti, Grace brought heavy rain to the country on Monday and Tuesday before making landfall in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as a category 1 hurricane on Thursday.

The U.S. Coast Guard is among the groups that have responded to Haiti to provide aid and help transport victims of the quake and storm.

“Coast Guard helicopters and aircrews are transporting medical personnel and evacuating those requiring higher levels of care,” officials said.

Thursday, the Coast Guard said its men and woman deployed in the country had saved 83 people, assisted 119 others, transported 185 urban disaster and relief personnel, and transported 6,800 pounds of disaster and relief supplies since arriving Sunday.

The Coast Guard also shared a video of their efforts Thursday. In the clip, MH-60 aircrews landed in the mountain village of Annette and medevacked 20 critically injured citizens to a higher level of care in Port-au-Prince.