In the hours and days following the August 14 earthquake, rescue operations across the southern peninsula of Haiti struggled against multiple challenges: aftershocks that made damaged structures dangerous; roads blocked by landslides that prevented access to remote communities; medical facilities overwhelmed with casualties; and the memory of 2010, when search and rescue teams had reached many victims too late.
Haitian National Police and civil protection authorities were among the first responders, joined rapidly by volunteer teams, community members, and eventually international search and rescue units. Survivors were pulled from rubble in the first hours, but as time passed the chances of finding people alive declined. The race against the biological clock of survival — typically 72 hours for uninjured survivors trapped without water — drove desperate urgency in the rescue effort.
The mountainous terrain of the southern peninsula complicated aerial access and made road-based logistics extremely difficult. Many of the most severely affected communities were in areas where roads had been damaged or were already in poor condition before the earthquake. Getting search and rescue teams, medical supplies, and food to these communities required significant logistical creativity.
International teams from the United States, including a USAID disaster response team and military assets directed by President Biden, joined the rescue effort within hours of the earthquake. The speed of the international response reflected lessons learned from 2010, when the delayed arrival of international assistance had contributed to preventable deaths. President Biden authorized immediate US assistance and named USAID Administrator Samantha Power to coordinate the effort.