Bay Area rescue groups preparing to support, aid Americans trapped in Haiti amid violent unrest

TAMPA, Fla. - State leaders in Florida launched an information portal for Floridians trapped in Haiti, as local non-profit organizations work to coordinate rescues and supply runs.

Violent gangs have gained control of much of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, shuttering government buildings, roads and the airport. The Pentagon deployed a marine unit to Haiti to bolster security at the U.S. Embassy, but a big concern is the safety of Americans who are still in the country. 

"It's impossible for us to know for sure. There are several hundred Americans who have registered to receive more information when we can provide it to them," said Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State. 

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Project Dynamo, a Tampa-based non-profit, has staged in the Dominican Republic to try and save at least a dozen Americans who requested help, including someone from Jacksonville. The Founder and CEO Bryan Stern said they are monitoring a rapidly changing environment.

"What's true today is not true two hours from now. So, it's very, very, very dangerous to move on these roads. Our intent is to do a ground movement for some Americans from where they are to a rally point, essentially, land helicopters and then fly those helicopters to the Dominican Republic and keep doing that until that doesn't work anymore," said Stern. "Right now, our landing zone is 40 minutes or so on very dangerous roads. It could be seven minutes, eight minutes, ten minutes. We're now going to expose Americans to four times as much exposure to the gangs as you really need to. Only because we need a good spot to land. And the best place is actually at the U.S. embassy, but we're not allowed to use it."

The airports and ports remain closed, so the state department said Americans should take advantage of any commercial options to leave Haiti as they become available. 

U.S. missionary groups are also in Haiti and another local group, Agape Flights out of Venice, are waiting to go in to fly in desperately needed supplies. They’re used to flying in on a weekly basis, but now they are in a holding pattern until it’s safer.

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"So meanwhile, I'm looking across the hangar, and I think at this point we might have up to 20,000 pounds of stuff that's just sitting, just waiting. It's in a holding pattern," said Gregory Haman, the director of flight operations at Agape Flights. "My natural desire and instinct is to want to get flights scheduled and get it moved to the people that need it. But right now, we can't. So, yeah, it's frustrating."

Agape Flights said their pilots won’t be flying into Port-au-Prince anytime soon, but they do have another airport they hope to fly to for customs once airspace is back open. 

Governor DeSantis is sending extra 250 officers to South Florida in preparation of any potential influx of illegal migrants fleeing Haiti. The Florida Department of Emergency Management launched a portal to get information on Americans and Floridians who are trapped there.

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