A man carries an injurred child outside Port-au-Prince. Photo by the Associated Press.
Those of us watching the earthquake and aftermath unfold in Haiti today are finding some of the most compelling information via one of the few ways it was getting out: Twitter.
We built a Twitter list with a few of the more interesting Twitter users (Just typing #Haiti this morning I was getting nearly 1,000 tweets every minute or two). Probably some of the most compelling Tweets, however, have been coming from Frederic Dupoux, a photographer who has been tweeting from Port Au Prince.
The frightening ordeal began with this tweet from Dupoux:
“oh shiet heavy earth quake right now ! in haiti”
A smattering of today’s tweets:
@optimism87 it’s worse here then in the media. people need help and there is none.
good morning haiti ! let’s find everybody !
dead bodies are everywhere i havent seen one ambulance or any proffesionl med care anywhere in port-au-prince
every other house is on the ground. people are terrified and have no hope.#haiti #eq
Donations
There have been quite a few tweets from people encouraging folks to donate to help victims. Since I’m always wary of these things I did check the most common one out and it is legitimate. If you text “haiti” to 90999 a $10 donation will be made to the Red Cross to help in relief efforts. The donation is billed to your wireless provider and passed on to you on your bill.
Noah R. Bombard is the new media editor for The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover. He is a former award-winning newspaper and magazine editor who has been covering news in Massachusetts since 1997.