Officials say the disaster has killed between 100,000 to 200,000 people and the Red Cross estimates some 3 million people have been affected. To date, the United States has delivered 1.4 million bottles of water, 700,000 meals and 22,000 pounds of medical equipment, which are being disbursed among some 100 distribution sites, Fraser said.
While the cost of relief efforts is difficult to estimate given its scope, Fraser placed the figure at $100 million. The Defense Department pledged up to $20 million in emergency relief funds in days for Haiti, and sprang troops into action following the quake.
Off the Haitian coast are 20 U.S. ships, with the floating hospital vessel USNS Comfort among them, adding medical capabilities and supplying about 600 medical personnel and 1,000 desperately needed hospital beds. As of yesterday, roughly 270 U.S. medical personnel on the ground had treated more than 5,100 people in Haiti.
