Haitian survivors of the massive earthquake last week say help is trickling in, but struggling people say they need it more quickly. The earthquake killed officially over 2,189 people but realistically it is thousands.
The poorest country in the Americas is in urgent need of medical, food and sanitation assistance, experts say. Rescue crews are still digging through rubble in a search for survivors, as the stench of death fills the air.
"We are preparing for a public health disaster," said Nadesha Mijoba of the Haitian Health Foundation. "The sanitation situation is quite critical... it is our hope that we don't have an outbreak of cholera.”
Since the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Aug. 14, the US military has transported at least 200 severely injured people to hospital.
Despite rainy conditions, many people have been sleeping outside due to fears that aftershocks could cause more buildings to collapse.
"We are afraid to go inside, so we sleep on the ground in the street," one person in the hard-hit region of Les Cayes said.
"I don't have a job, I don't have water, I don't have food. My house was destroyed, there is nothing," said another woman.
Around 53,000 homes were completely destroyed in the quake, with about 77,000 more damaged.
The US Army is setting up a field hospital in Les Cayes. The US and British Navy are also each sending ships to help with rescue and recovery efforts.
Doctors are struggling to treat over 13,000 people who have been injured. Thousands are still missing, and presumed trapped under the rubble.
To complicate things, rescue workers had to contend with armed gangs who attacked aid convoys.
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