US Marines assist with clean up in Haiti
A US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) team was deployed on 5 October to assist with humanitarian relief in Haiti due to Hurricane Matthew.
A US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) team was deployed on 5 October to assist with humanitarian relief in Haiti due to Hurricane Matthew. An advanced team was sent ahead to set up operations in Port-au-Prince before additional personnel and equipment were transported via helicopters and a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft.
The task force departed from Honduras for the island to assist in heavy lifting tasks as directed by the Haitian government, but were delayed on the way by bad weather and was forced to land in Kingston, Jamaica before finally landing in Haiti.
The advance team consisted of around 100 personnel. The team, led by the US Agency for International Development’s Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance, arrived aboard CH-53E Super Stallion, CH-47 Chinook and UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters. A special response force has been operating from the base Soto Cano Air Based in Honduras since June in order to respond quickly to incidents in the Caribbean caused by hurricane season.