U.S. Coast Guard, Navy head to Haiti to help with earthquake relief efforts

U.S. Coast Guard crews are clearing ports in Haiti of debris and flying overhead to assess damage today while Navy sailors are en route to the country in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake.

Coast Guard vessels and aircraft left for Haiti at 3:30 this morning, with the cutters tasked with making sure the ports are open and free of debris so relief supplies can arrive and the aircraft charged with assessing the damage and identifying places where people need help, said Petty Officer James Harless, of Coast Guard District 7 in Miami.

The Coast Guard sent four cutters to Haiti — Valiant, from Miami; Forward, from Portsmouth, Va.; Tahoma, from Portsmouth, N.H., and Mohawk, from Key West, Fla. The Coast Guard also sent two C-130 aircraft, one fixed-wing Falcon and three HH-60 "Jayhawks."

A Coast Guard helicopter evacuated four critically injured U.S. Embassy staff to the naval station in Guantanamo for treatment, a statement from the U.S. Southern Command said.

"This is just a really bad situation with a lot of devastation, and unfortunately it looks like a lot of loss of life," said Lt. Cmdr. Rob Wyman, Coast Guard Atlantic Area public affairs officer. "We're engaged and acting quickly to get the right pieces in place to contribute to the overall response effort. We're doing everything we can right now."

The U.S. Southern Command is sending a team of 30 people to Haiti to support the relief efforts. The team includes military engineers, planners, a command and control group and communication specialists.

A U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft from the Forward Operating Location at Comalapa, El Salvador, took off early this morning to survey the area affected by the earthquake and a Navy aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, is expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday, according to SOUTHCOM.

The Air Force is going to the international airport at Port au Prince to help with air traffic control and airfield operations. They are expected to arrive in Haiti this afternoon.

President Barack Obama said in a statement that he has directed the administration to "respond with a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives."

"The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief, the food, water and medicine, that Haitians will need in the coming days," Obama said. "In that effort, our government, especially USAID and the Departments of State and Defense are working closely together and with our partners in Haiti, the region, and around the world."

Obama designated the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Dr. Rajiv Shah, to be the government's unified disaster coordinator.