CP10 Marines, Sailors assess Hurricane Tomas impact

Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Alicia Leaders | A CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 774 assesses the aftermath of Hurricane Tomas off the southern claw of Haiti, Nov. 6, in preparation for tentative disaster relief efforts to the region in support of the government of Haiti, MINUSTAH and USAID. Marines and sailors embarked aboard USS Iwo Jima attached to Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force concluded humanitarian operations in Paramaribo, Suriname, Nov. 1, for Haiti relief efforts.  

USS IWO JIMA, AT SEA

11.06.2010

Story by Cpl. Daniel Negrete 

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South

USS IWO JIMA, At Sea – On the morning of Nov. 6, Marines and sailors aboard the USS Iwo Jima flew over Haitian soil to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Tomas in support of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and the government of Haiti.

Marine CH-46 Helicopters from HMM-774 out of Norfolk, Va., launched off the Iwo’s deck and conducted damage assessment flights over regions suspected to have been affected by Tomas.

“No major damage could be observed as a result of Hurricane Tomas,” said 1st Lt. Bridget L. Ajinga, an intelligence officer with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Continuing Promise 2010. “All major roads, bridges and supply routes were intact and unaffected by the hurricane.”

Minimal flooding was observed near the vicinity of the Leogane Internally Displaced Persons Camp, near Port-Au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

“In our aerial damage assessments, we saw first hand the efforts being carried out by United Nations personnel, USAID, MINUSTAH and the Haitian government to control the flooding with sandbags, bull dozers and redirecting water-flow,” said Ajinga.

Aside from minor flooding in isolated areas, the damage assessment revealed normal day-to-day life continuing as usual in Haiti. Commerce, transportation, agriculture, fishing and other businesses seemed unaffected by Tomas.

“At the request of MINUSTAH, USAID and the Government of Haiti, we have conducted the aerial damage assessments and provided those images to those partners. Now, they will examine our images and information with reports from the ground and determine relief needs—if any—from there,” said Capt. Thomas Negus, USN, commodore, Continuing Promise 2010.

The CP10 team has carried out the humanitarian-civic assistance mission along the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility since July 2010. CP10 has provided medical, dental and engineering assistance to Haiti, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Guyana and Suriname.

Three days into CP10’s mission in Suriname, the call was received for all Marines, sailors and participating CP10 personnel to cease operations in Suriname and return to the USS Iwo Jima in order to begin its transit toward Haiti on the morning of Nov. 1, three days before Tomas swept through Haiti.

• Date Taken: 11.06.2010
• Date Posted: 11.07.2010 18:27
• Story ID: 59619
• Location: USS IWO JIMA, AT SEA