MELISSA BLOCK, host:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
I'm Robert Siegel.
And we begin this hour with the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Haiti. It has been two days now since a magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook the country's capital, Port-au-Prince. The Red Cross now estimates the death toll at 45,000 to 50,000. And the first American death has been confirmed: a long time employee of the State Department. Fifty-seven-year-old Victoria DeLong died when her home collapsed. There are tens of thousands of people injured, many of the region's hospitals have been severely damaged, and outside medical and rescue groups are still struggling to reach the hardest hit areas. Medics, search and rescue teams, and other forms of aid are arriving, but the magnitude of the disaster is overwhelming relief efforts. The White House says as many as 5,500 U.S. infantry and Marines will be in Haiti or on ships offshore by Monday.
NPR's Greg Allen has spent the day in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince and he joins us now. And Greg, as we've said, it's been two days since the earthquake hit. What's the situation like where you've been today?
GREG ALLEN: Well, Robert, I spent much of the day driving around the city of Port-au-Prince, through the residential neighborhoods. And as you can imagine from the pictures you've seen, this devastation there is just staggering.
You drive through these narrow streets, which were narrow in the best of situations and there barely room for one car to pass with rubble piled high on each side.
Very many houses are collapsed totally. You know, mostly stone houses all totally gone now. Houses that weren't collapsed, you'll see a wall missing, a corner missing.
Needless to say, everyone's out on the street. People can't live in their houses. They're - some are living in lots where houses used to be and they're bathing their children and trying to carry on some kind of normal life. But at the same time, cross the street, you'll see piles of dead bodies. You know, wherever you go in Port-au-Prince in these residential neighborhoods, you'll see bodies by the side of the road.
SIEGEL: And we hear so much about the search for people who might be trapped under these collapsed buildings. Have you seen any signs of success in finding anybody who's under the rubble?
ALLEN: Well, I have not myself - we went to one building today at the Interior Ministry in Port-au-Prince City center, and a crew from the Dominican Republic came up. And they were a rescue crew and we stopped to ask them what they were going to do there and they told us that they believed that two men were trapped in the building, but it was too dangerous to proceed. And so they stayed there for a while and then they left.
Before they left, they said they did have a lot of success yesterday at another ministry building where they pulled a person out. And they're very about that, but today was not going to be a success for them.
SIEGEL: Have you seen efforts to distribute food or water to the Haitians?
ALLEN: I have not seen that yet. Certainly, there's a lot of aid groups coming in. The planes are arriving at the Port-au-Prince airport hourly. So I think there is some aid on the way. Coast Guard ships are here. We see, of course, the UN presence is here. But so far, there's not really been a large-scale distribution of aid begun that I can see.
SIEGEL: And Greg, now that it's nightfall, are these people who are sleeping out of doors, do they have some kind of protection from the elements?
ALLEN: Well, it's actually the, you know, the dry season here, so it should not rain, although that wasn't the case. It did rain yesterday. And it's - the weather is not bad. However, you know, the only protection people have is a tarpaulin, you know, and maybe a sheet. There's not a lot of protection here. Fortunately it's, as I say, it's, you know, it's a tropical climate, and at least for now that might be okay. But when the rainy season comes, it'll be a different story.
SIEGEL: NPR's Greg Allen outside Port-au-Prince. Greg, thanks a lot. Take care.
ALLEN: Thank you, Robert.