Aussie aid agencies rush to help Haiti

An Australian woman says it's a miracle she survived the earthquake which devastated
Haiti, as the federal government has pledged $10 million in emergency aid to the
impoverished Caribbean country.
Brisbane women Rachel Hoffman survived by digging her way out of a collapsed
three-storey apartment complex in the capital Port-Au-Prince with her US husband
Joel.
Authorities believe all Australians known to be in Haiti when the 7.0 magnitude
quake struck are alive and well.
Grave fears for a United Nations worker were allayed on Thursday afternoon
Australian time when Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith announced the man had
been found.
"We've received advice from family and friends that the seventh Australian known to
be working for and with the United Nations in Haiti has been accounted for," Mr
Smith told Sky News.
"We now have 20 Australians safely accounted for."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said 16 UN personnel had been confirmed dead after the
organisation's main headquarters in the Haitian capital was flattened.
Those killed include three police officers from Jordan, one from Argentina, one from
Chad and 11 Brazilian peacekeepers.
Mrs Hoffman left Brisbane last year to do aid work in Haiti with a religious
organisation.
"Mum, it's a miracle I'm alive," she told her mother, Bev Eagy, on the phone after
escaping the carnage.
The 24-year-old's stepfather, Alan Eagy, said the Hoffmans were at home when the
earthquake hit.
"They live in a three-storey concrete house and were on the top floor," he told AAP.
"It just crumbled around them and they went down with it.
"They had to claw their way and dig their way out. They finally got out and had to
walk to the (US) embassy."
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Australia's $10 million contribution will
help with the recovery.
"As a nation, we want to play a part in the global effort to support the people of
Haiti at this time," Ms Gillard said.
"This has been a devastating event, a devastating tragedy, hitting the lives of so
many people."
Mr Smith said $5 million would be provided immediately for fresh water, food and
shelter. The additional $5 million will assist with long-term rehabilitation and
rebuilding in the disaster area.
More financial aid would be considered if required, the foreign minister said.
Casualty figures from the quake vary, but Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive
believes the final death toll could be "well over 100,000".
President Rene Preval has said 50,000 could be dead.
While the quake has decimated Port-au-Prince, an Australian geophysics expert said
it could have been even worse if a tsunami had followed.
"A blessing was that the earthquake itself was on land," the University of Sydney's
Professor Geoffrey Clarke said.
"The damage and loss of life could have been much bigger if the ground movement had
been in the ocean."
Australian aid agencies are rushing to assist Haiti with emergency supplies and
fundraising campaigns.
Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, in Adelaide for next week's Tour Down
Under, has pledged $270,000 on behalf of his cancer charity Livestrong.
Another high-profile American, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on Thursday
cancelled her visit to Australia with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates for security
talks.
They were due to arrive on Sunday but will now head home from Hawaii to help deal
with the disaster unfolding on the US's doorstep.
"When I talked to the foreign minister, he was very understanding," Ms Clinton said.
"I told him we would try to reschedule as soon as we can find a mutually convenient
time."