Elmont responds to Haiti quake
Residents search for loved ones
Tears and promises were both plentiful on Renfrew Avenue in Elmont last week, with residents in the area coming together almost immediately after the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Elmont, which has one of the largest Haitian populations on Long Island, was humming with activity in response to the humanitarian crisis in Port-au-Prince last week. Many in the hamlet were directly affected by the tragedy, with some losing family members or friends. Others said they had not had contact with loved ones for days, if at all.
More than 16,000 Haitians live in Nassau County, according to the 2000 census, with a large portion of that population concentrated in Elmont and Uniondale. The majority of the Haitian population in the county immigrated to the area.
Sam Kille, of the American Red Cross in Nassau County, said that many Haitian Long Island residents had been trying around the clock to get in touch with family members in the Caribbean. Kille said that one woman had come into the Red Cross office in Mineola in agony over the deaths of four relatives. “These experiences are happening all over,” he said, adding that the relief effort was going to be a long, drawn-out process. “Right now, the effort is getting people out of the rubble, getting them food, water, supplies, etcetera. People need the infrastructure rebuilt and the water running again.”
David Duchatelier, an Elmont resident and community leader whose home has been the staging area for donations to the beleaguered nation, said that the earthquake came as a shock to Elmont’s Haitian residents. “We have an entire city with 3 million people, and right now they’re saying that over 100,000 people may have perished,” Duchatelier said.
He added that he had spent months before the earthquake putting together donations of food and clothing to help with the hunger crisis in Haiti, and now the situation is even more dire. “Since this tragedy struck,” he said, “I’ve had to mobilize my friends, the entire community, and anyone else who wanted to contribute to this cause.”
