Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana is on Facebook

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Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana is on Facebook

Wednesday Mid-day Update - Day 22
Today at 10:40am

Replacement crews have begun their second day on the site of the Hotel Montana, and work is reported to be speeding up, following some first-day issues getting organized. Five mechanical excavators are in use once again, with spotters and others in place to carefully search the rubble once large pieces are removed.

In addition to the continuing focus on the lobby area, cafe, and stairwells, Brian Steidle tells me they are working to remove roof sections on the left side of the hotel, getting to bottom floors that have been nearly impossible to comprehensively search until now.

Read more at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Haiti-Earthquake-Hotel-Montana/245595172631#!/pages/Haiti-Earthquake-Hotel-Montana/245595172631?v=app_2347471856

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Loved ones of those missing in Haiti find support on Facebook

Posted Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010
By DIANE SMITH
dianesmith@star-telegram.com
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Friends speak of miracles and hope on the Facebook page "Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana."

The page keeps an open discussion of search and recovery efforts for Americans who were at the Port-au-Prince hotel when the earthquake struck Jan. 12.

As of Monday evening, 16,707 Facebook users had listed themselves as fans of the efforts.

Among people being supported by the community is Sally Baldwin of Fort Worth, who is still waiting for word about her son, Brendan Beck. Beck, a 35-year-old civil engineer, was in Haiti to begin a job for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

"Like so many other concerned people, I joined the Facebook page," said Dean Paetzold, 33, a graduate student from Denver who met Beck in the Peace Corps.

Paetzold said Beck's friends are monitoring news and comments with the hope that he will be found.

"A special bond is formed in the Peace Corps," he said. "It's an immediate and emotional reaction to want to gather around his family and support them because we have that tie."

Paetzold said he and Beck served in Mali, West Africa. Peace Corps friends bonded while sharing the victories and struggles of helping communities in need. Paetzold said Beck's trip to Haiti was a continuation of that calling.
There are plans for a celebration of life ceremony for Beck in Florida, where he was raised.

Last week, Baldwin went to Washington, D.C., to emphasize to lawmakers the need for having a person who oversees the recovery, identification and return of relatives from the Hotel Montana. She also wants a process for the "repatriation" of these earthquake victims.
In response to Baldwin's plea, state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, said she is searching for answers from the State Department.

http://www.star-telegram.com/local/s...k=digger-topic

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Re: Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana is on Facebook

Thursday Morning Update - Day 23
Today at 6:22am

Excerpts:

"Yesterday was a day of tremendous progress in the continuation of peeling off the layers at the Hotel Montana site. In fact, according to some of our sources on the ground, it was being done a little too fast by the new crew that has taken over the operation.

Brian Steidle and others were concerned things were moving a bit too quickly--that spotters were not present in sufficient numbers to keep up with the work, and make sure all personal effects were salvaged to be returned home with our loved ones. These advocates on our behalf were able to present their concerns to those in charge, and report today that they are much more satisfied with the care being demonstrated.

Officials believe they have removed much of the fifth and fourth floors to the left of the elevator shaft, and were accessing rooms on the third floor. The hope is that they'll be down to the second floor in short order.

Getting into the lobby area has been a consummate challenge, but it is hoped they will get even more access there in the very near future. The gym has remained perhaps the greatest challenge, but they are also determined to continue the work there, as they can make it safe for the work crews."

Read more at:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/haiti-earthquake-hotel-montana/thursday-morning-update-day-23/284737039522

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Re: Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana is on Facebook

Thursday Evening Update - Day 23
Today at 4:30pm

Excerpts:

TODAY'S WORK

Colonel Cintron reports that 31 truckloads of debris were hauled from the site today, and several personal items recovered. In case you're wondering (as I have), the same contractor who is identifying victims reportedly also has other staff collecting the things found (luggage, laptops, etc.) and will return those to the families as well.

Thursday saw crews gain partial access to the breezeway/lobby area, and move closer to the left-side of the building, preparing to enter the lobby from the Southeast corner.

The recovery effort is extremely complicated, and one reason many hotel rooms have yet to be accessed and cleared is that engineers on-site have been afraid that if work is done on the wings, the center will collapse into the lobby, where many are still believed to be trapped.

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=245595172631

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Re: Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana is on Facebook

US commits to recover all bodies from Haiti hotel

By: MIKE MELIA AND MICHELLE FAUL

The Associated Press
Friday February 5, 2010 06:10 AM


In this Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 photo, French firefighters arrive to the site where a body recovery operation is underway at the rubble of the Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince. Before the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, the hotel attracted an international mix of tourists, aid workers and diplomats with its sweeping views from the hills above Port-au-Prince. Crews from Haiti, Brazil, France, the United States, Mexico and Canada have all combed the debris, which pancaked so dramatically that the roofline comes within inches of the ground. (AP Photo)

Names and photos of people still missing after Haiti's earthquake are seen in an improvised memorial in the rubble of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010. Before the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, the hotel attracted an international mix of tourists, aid workers and diplomats with its sweeping views from the hills above Port-au-Prince. Crews from Haiti, Brazil, France, the United States, Mexico and Canada have all combed the debris, which pancaked so dramatically that the roofline comes within inches of the ground. (AP Photo)

In this Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 photo, Dominique Lajoie, right, Director or Operations of the Hotel Montana, and bellboy Lionel Jean-Francois search for documents in the rubble of the hotel in Port-au-Prince. Before the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, the hotel attracted an international mix of tourists, aid workers and diplomats with its sweeping views from the hills above Port-au-Prince. Crews from Haiti, Brazil, France, the United States, Mexico and Canada have all combed the debris, which pancaked so dramatically that the roofline comes within inches of the ground. (AP Photo)

This Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 photo shows a poster of missing Antiguan Gregory McCalpin at the improvised memorial at the Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince. Before the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, the hotel attracted an international mix of tourists, aid workers and diplomats with its sweeping views from the hills above Port-au-Prince. Crews from Haiti, Brazil, France, the United States, Mexico and Canada have all combed the debris, which pancaked so dramatically that the roofline comes within inches of the ground. (AP Photo)

This photo released by Lynn Univesity in Boca Raton, Fla., shows Britney Gengel who is among the four students and two Lynn University faculty members missing in Haiti, after a massive earthquake destroyed much of the capitol city of Port-Au-Prince on Jan. 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Lynn University) NO SALES.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 file photo, Len Gengel and his wife Cherylann talk about their daughter Britney, who is missing after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, in Deerfield Beach, Fla. As recovery crews scour the collapsed Hotel Montana, where Britney is believed to be lost in the rubble, Len and Cherylann Gengel are waiting with dread for a call to confirm her fate. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, file)


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An hour before the earthquake struck, 19-year-old Britney Gengel phoned her mother in Massachusetts, bursting with joy: She had found her calling on a college trip to help orphans in Haiti.

Now, as recovery crews continue to scour the collapsed Hotel Montana where Britney and 14 other Americans are believed buried in the rubble, Len and Cherylann Gengel are waiting with dread for another call _ this time confirming their daughter's fate.

"It is a living hell on Earth to be in this limbo," Len Gengel said.

Gengel's daughter and three other students from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., are believed to have been trapped inside the Montana when the Jan. 12 quake struck, turning the six-story landmark into a tangle of broken concrete in the flash of an eye. Some 100 people are believed buried there.

The U.S. is pursuing the cases of about 4,000 Americans unaccounted for in Haiti, according to State Department spokesman Noel Clay. He said that number could drop dramatically because many are Haitians with U.S. citizenship who travel frequently between the two countries and are more difficult to track. So far, the U.S. has confirmed 79 American deaths.

"The departments of state, defense and health and human services are working together to recover, identify and repatriate remains of American citizens in the absence of functioning local mortuaries and commercial flights out of Haiti," said David Searby, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy.

The Hotel Montana attracted an international clientele of tourists, aid workers and diplomats with its sweeping views from the hills above Port-au-Prince. None of the capital's ruins has been more thoroughly searched. Crews from the U.S., Brazil, France, Mexico, Canada and Haiti have all combed the debris, which pancaked so dramatically that the roofline comes within inches of the ground.

U.S. Army Col. Norberto Cintron, who is in charge of the recovery effort, said it will continue until workers find and identify the remains of all who were lost there. He expects it to take six to eight weeks.

"My instructions are to try to find everyone that was in this building," Cintron said. "We want to make sure we do this in a humane, dignified way, especially for the families."

It's a slow process: spray the mass of broken concrete and twisted metal beams to clear the dust that covers everything, including bodies. If there are none, signal a frontloader to lift the debris. If there is the smell of death, work carefully with jackhammers and other tools to search for and extricate the body.

A team from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is there to identify remains pulled from the hotel, and American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division provide security. Inside the hotel gates, Cintron said 60 to 80 workers from outfits including the Army Corps of Engineers are working on recovering bodies.

At the Hotel Montana, about 21 people were pulled out alive and, so far, 28 bodies have been recovered, according to Cintron. It is the site where perhaps the largest number of Americans has yet to be recovered.

The engraved wedding ring on the finger of one smashed body pulled out last week helped workers identify her as Sandra Liliana Rivero Gonzalez, a Colombian manager for Delta Airlines. Two other bodies removed on Sunday, a man and a woman, were crushed beyond recognition and put into body bags to be taken away for identification from dental and other medical records.

Read more at:

http://www.timesonline.com/bct_news/news_details/article/1373/2010/february/05/us-commits-to-recover-all-bodies-from-haiti-hotel.html

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Friday Night Update - Day 24
Yesterday at 9:23pm

Excerpts:

TODAY'S PROGRESS

Nearly 100 truckloads of debris have now been removed from the Hotel Montana site, and Colonel Cintron (leader of the effort) reports that some 130-140 personnel have been on-site, which will grow by ten or more beginning Saturday when a Canadian Search and Rescue (SAR) team arrives.

Work continues from all angles, with crews breaking large slabs of concrete into approximately three-foot sections for the heavy equipment to remove. He reports that in some parts of the hotel... (breathe)... only three-inches remains between floors, as the side walls simply exploded outward during the quake. Cintron says work in those areas is "extra difficult and time-consuming."

Teams continue to focus on the lobby and bar areas as likely places where the missing ran, trying to escape. Unfortunately he also reports that the bar area, and the gym, are the most dangerous and least accessible portions of the work. Additional tools recently arrived on-site and are helping to further expedite the work, but there is still a long segment of the journey ahead of us.

Colonel Cintron guesses--and he stresses that this is a guess--that at least 30 of our loved ones remain missing at the hotel.

For those who have been wondering why it is taking so long to find everyone... the reality is that a number have already been located, but are in areas far too dangerous to access for removal at this time. They are working with the greatest care, both for the rescuers, and for those who didn't make it.

IDENTIFICATION

Colonel Cintron provided an extended briefing on the identification process today, outlining the complexities.

Identification cannot be confirmed based on wallets or papers alone--a complete scientific identification process is required, including fingerprints, dental records, prosthetic implants and, if needed, DNA. (He also noted that for any who need DNA testing to complete the verification, that process typically takes a minimum of two weeks.)

He stressed through further description how the utmost care is being taken at every step in the process, including the return of personal items discovered during the search. Those items discovered in our loved ones' possession will be returned with them, while those found near them, which can be positively identified as theirs, will be handled separately and given back through the U.S. Embassy.

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=245595172631

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Re: Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana is on Facebook

Sunday Night Update - Day 26
Yesterday at 6:29pm

Excerpt:

Unfortunately, for some in this precious family it feels like the sun has gone into an extended eclipse and, through a curtain formed with tears, human hearts are tempted to ponder whether the sunshine of joy will ever return.

Our hearts weep with dear Peggy Bourland who joined us here several times, and with Robin Hobbs who faithfully kept Lt. Col. Ken Bourland fresh in our hearts and minds, but who also had the agonizing task of confirming Ken's final flight today. Yet once more we've entrusted a departed brother to God's mercy. Rest in peace, sir... we salute you.

TODAY'S ON-SITE WORK

The assault on the rubble continued on pretty much the same plan as recent days. There were several different teams at work on all sides, and also moving through the middle of the hotel toward the back wall, in what used to be the lobby area. Teams continue to break up and lift layer after layer of concrete from the site for removal--the debris is carefully sifted, and then loaded on trucks to be hauled away.

A couple of times today spotters signaled for the work to stop, and two more members of our family were set free from the wreckage and recovered. Once again I would direct you to the documents on the identification process that have been posted in the past two days, especially the note from Kenyon Services which was specifically prepared for publication on this site, and posted as the previous "note".

Further details from the weekend's efforts will likely be posted very late Monday night or early Tuesday morning after we receive the Monday update from government officials in the United States.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/haiti-earthquake-hotel-montana/sunday-night-update-day-26/291395704522

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Tuesday Update - Day 28
Yesterday at 9:19pm

TODAY'S PROGRESS

It was the same ol' story today: Los Topos of Mexico, along with Search and Rescue teams from Canada and France continued to labor alongside the heavy machinery--waiting for the seemingly impossible--yet also ready to pay due respect to any who could be found under the rubble.

But today it was not to be: There were reportedly no recoveries on this four-week anniversary of the earthquake. After the overwhelming pace of the weekend, perhaps we all needed a pause to reflect on the heartache of the past few days... a time to catch our collective breath and just hug each other.

No one can know for sure how many remain trapped below the ruins. This much we do know... our journey will not be complete until all these family members are found and set free:

Lee Strickland
Pat Hartwick
Richard Bruno
Frank Vaughters
Brendan Beck
David Apperson
Jim Birch
Roger Gosselin
Rosemond James
Gregory McAlpin
Siegfried Francisco
Trieu Tran Quan
Claude Chamberland
Alexandre Bitton
Rudy Bennett
Herb Kanzki
Boucif Belhachami
Jean-Pierre

Stephanie Crispinelli
Christine Gianacaci
Courtney Hayes
Britney Gengel
Paquerette Tremblay
Anne Labelle
Marie Louis
LuLu Pierre

[NOTE: If you know others still missing at the Hotel Montana who are not listed here, please send us a message so we can add them to our prayers. These were collected from the albums on this page, using pictures provided by our members.]

More at:

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=245595172631

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Thursday Night Update - Day 30
Yesterday at 9:07pm

Excerpt:

TODAY'S WORK

According to Brian Steidle, the heavy rains that covered Port au Prince Wednesday night did not have any negative effect on the work at the Hotel Montana today. Workers were back on the job using both heavy excavating equipment, and their hands, as the quest to set free everyone trapped in the rubble continued.

Workers were halted at one point today as another of our loved ones was found and respectfully carried away to begin the identification process; the first leg of the journey back home. The effort seems to be back in a steady rhythm, working toward completion, but I'm sure to all of us awaiting news on loved ones, anything more than one more day is far too much.

It's no one's fault, it's simply a stubborn fact that the work can only proceed slowly. Tons and tons of concrete and steel have to be broken up, and cut into pieces for removal... all the while being careful not to set off a cascade of debris that would be hazardous to those doing the work.

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=245595172631

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Tuesday Night Update - Day 35
Hier, ? 20:07

Excerpts:

TODAY'S WORK

Our journey is perceptibly approaching one more transition. There has been more than a month of constant searching and activity, and now, a great deal of the rubble has been carefully lifted, sifted, and removed from the site.

Contrary to some indications we received over the weekend--and it's becoming more and more difficult to obtain solid information--we may be closer to an end to these clean-up and recovery activities than we thought. I see a great significance to the fact that a memorial service has been announced for tomorrow, beneath the grand mahogany tree at the Hotel Montana site.

I am speculating... guessing... that the final push into the hardest to reach areas has yielded the results our on-site heroes were seeking, and a new chapter in the effort is about to begin.

But wait... we have eight family members left to find! How can they possibly change course now?

Over the weekend, Kenyon International let us know that they were caring for 20 of our "Heroes for Humanity" who were each somewhere along the way in the identification process--a series of carefully handled tests that we were told could take up to two or three weeks, in some cases.

What this might mean is that our three Antiguans, three Canadians, and two Americans may already be set free, and preparing to be returned home in the days to come.

I will stress again, there is a good deal of "puzzle-work" involved for me in making these statements, putting together information from various sources who have proved reliable over these weeks. Officials have made a clear decision to limit the news that is available through any other voice than their own.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/haiti-earthquake-hotel-montana/tuesday-night-update-day-35/308619044522