A small group of Canadian sailors arrived Tuesday at one of the worst-hit cities in Haiti, finding up to 90 per cent of the buildings destroyed by the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Leogane, a coastal city 29 kilometres west of the Haitian capital, was left completely in ruins.
HMCS Athabaskan dropped anchor off the coast of Leogane early Tuesday morning after five days at sea. Within a few hours, a group of 25 Canadian sailors made their way to shore.
Their task was to determine where a suitable landing point would be for incoming military aid.
"I'm expecting the worst, and we'll cope and deal with it as we get there," said Dan Mercier, the destroyer's chief petty officer. "That's what we're trained to do."
Some of the sailors who came ashore were put to work helping a Canadian aid group set up a field clinic. In another part of the town, a Navy doctor was doing emergency aid work at another clinic.
Two Canadian Medical Assistance Teams arrived in Leogane in the afternoon. They included an orthopedic surgeon and an anesthesiologist.
"We need water and medicine," local resident Sam Moly told The Canadian Press. "We got nothing (from international community). Everything we do, we do for ourselves."
HMCS Athabaskan carries little extra food and water, but is intended to provide support for other aid agencies and to provide leadership in the chaotic situation.
"The people here are experiencing many fractures and wounds. Supplies are very limited. There are many amputations which we hope we will be able to treat within the field hospital," Valerie Rzepka, a nurse and CMAT chairperson, said in a statement.
Local priest Father Maral Guirand echoed that assessment.
"The situation is very, very, very bad," he said. "People are very poor. They need everything."
Navy frigate HMCS Halifax also arrived Tuesday morning, according to Naval Task Force Commander Capt. Art McDonald.
HMCS Halifax was launching its efforts just offshore from Jacmel, a town about 25 kilometres southwest of Port-au-Prince where Canada's DART team has based its efforts. It is also the hometown of Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean.
The two ships have a combined crew of 500 sailors, and teams deployed ashore will "help with the flow of aid," said McDonald.
"Today's efforts are light engineering work, what some would call humanitarian support services -- things like clearing roads and fixing up hospitals," McDonald said.
The ships were called back to port shortly after the earthquake struck Haiti on Jan. 12, and preparations began immediately to deploy the ships to Haiti.
Within about 24 hours they were leaving port in Halifax and were en route to Haiti.
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk said the ships' crews will be working on basic priorities like clearing roads to ensure aid can be delivered to those who need it, establishing communications and delivering humanitarian aid.
The Canadian military will eventually deploy a total of 2,000 personnel to Haiti -- including 1,000 peacekeepers, 200 DART members, 500 crew from Halifax and Athabaskan, and 200 soldiers already on the ground.
Natynczyk said the mission could last up to two months.
"Everyday is Groundhog Day for the next while," Natynczyk said. "It's going to be very difficult for the men and women on the ground because the need is so great."
With 2,500 Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan, 2,000 going to Haiti, and with 5,000 prepared for deployment to Vancouver to carry out security duties during the Olympics, many have expressed worry that the military is being stretched too thin.
Natynczyk dismissed those worries, saying members of the Canadian Forces are stepping up to do their duty.
"That is a concern that has been voiced from many corners but as we're seeing in this operation -- humanitarian support for Haiti -- we have men and women lining up to participate in this operation," he said.
"Everybody wants to go and make a contribution to serve Canada."
With files from The Canadian Press
